Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

On September 27, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (the “First Circuit”) entered judgment in favor of 7-Eleven, Inc. (“7-Eleven”) in Patel v. 7-Eleven, Inc., putting to rest a class action lawsuit 7-Eleven has been defending for more than seven years regarding allegations that its franchisees were actually employees of 7-Eleven, based on the application of the Massachusetts independent contractor statute.

When a franchisor provides a California franchisee with detailed instructions about how to operate the franchise business, but allows the franchisee to manage its own workforce, can the franchisor be held liable for the franchisee’s wage and hour violations?  The California Court of Appeals found the answer to be no under the facts in Curry v. Equilon Enterprises, LLC, 2018 WL 1959472 (Cal. Ct. App. Apr. 26, 2018).  There, the Court of Appeals concluded Equilon Enterprises, LLC, doing business as Shell Oil Products US (“Shell”), was not liable for the alleged wage and hour violations of the company that operated its Shell-branded gas stations throughout California.