Mr. Hermann has over 15 years of experience litigating claims on behalf of franchisees who have been the subject of unfair and deceptive business practices which are actionable under the Michigan Franchise Investment Law (MFIL). Section 5 of the MFIL prohibits a franchisor from engaging in any act of fraud or misrepresentation in the offering or sale of a franchise opportunity including the omission of material information which would render a franchisors representations otherwise misleading. Under Section 31 of the Act any franchisee sells a franchise in violation of section 5 is liable to the purchaser of the franchise for his/her damages and/or rescission along with interest costs, and attorney fees. Notable cases include:

Abbo v Wireless Toyz Franchise, LLC

Mr. Hermann successfully defended a jury verdict in the amount of $200,600 in favor of a franchisee for a claim of silent fraud against a local cellular phone franchisor. Although the jury determined that the franchisor omitted material information about the costs and expense associated with the operation of an individual franchise operation, the franchisor asserted that franchise documents contained a clear and unequivocal disclaimer that the franchisor was not acting in reliance on any information outside of the franchise documents themselves which they alleged accurately disclosed the financial risks inherent to the operation of the franchise opportunity. On Appeal, the jury award was upheld on the basis that the omission of the material information was sufficient to establish that the underlying franchise agreement was the product of fraud (i.e. silent fraud) which provided a legal basis to set aside the contractual disclaimer provisions.