Oppressive employment by another route : franchise and abuse of power

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Brodie, Douglas (2025) Oppressive employment by another route : franchise and abuse of power. Industrial Law Journal. ISSN 0305-9332 (In Press) (https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwaf051)

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Abstract

A notable feature of contracts of franchise is that they concern relationships which can be vastly different in scale and, as a corollary, may merit differential treatment in law. Litigation involving, for instance, a franchisee in the fast food industry employing a significant number of staff will fall unequivocally within the commercial arena. The relationship between the parties may though be much closer in nature to one of employment and that was the position in the recent case of Ellis v John Benson (Benson) which is the focus of this note. Irrespective of the scale of the operation disparities in bargaining power are likely to mean that the franchisee is vulnerable. Two decades ago, the Canadian courts acknowledged this in Shelanu Inc v Print Three Franchising Corp where it was observed that the contract is one of adhesion and the relationship between the parties impacted by a power imbalance. Some relationships are more unequal than others and in Dwyer v Fredbar (Dwyer) it was found that the contract was entered into 'in the context of a total inequality of arms.' In Dwyer the franchisee 'was essentially a "man with a van", and even that he had to hire. He had to invest all his limited savings in the business and borrow money from the bank. He had to pay the initial franchise fee of £35,000 plus VAT and then a weekly management service fee based upon a percentage of sales'.

  • Item type:Article
    ID code:94552
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    16 October 2025
    Published
    16 October 2025
    Accepted
    Subjects:Law
    Department:Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS)
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:28 Oct 2025 12:24
    Last modified:21 Jan 2026 01:13
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/94552
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