Subway Lawsuit & the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
A soldier who lost both of his Subway franchises settled his lawsuit against the company after a long two year fight. The Dallas News reports that Lt. Col. Leon Batie Jr. was deployed in Afghanistan back in 2005. While he was deployed, he asked his younger brother and another Subway franchisee to look after his two Subway franchises. When the rent on the stores was not paid, Lt. Batie's contract with Subway was terminated and the stores were taken and sold to other Subway franchisees.
The loss of his two Subway franchises spurred Lt. Batie to file a lawsuit against Subway under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. A judge ruled in favor of Lt. Batie saying that under the Act, Subway violated Lt. Batie's rights.
This brings up the question: What is the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act?
According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development site, it is a piece of legislation that was passed in 2003 in order protect the rights of servicemembers while they are on active military duty.
Some of the benefits of the law are:
- Mortgage relief;
- Protection against termination of leases;
- Protection from eviction;
- 6% cap on interest rates;
- Stay of proceedings involving the servicemember; and
- Reopening default judgments involving the servicemember.
While these are some of the benefits and rights, there are many more. The Supreme Court ruled that in circumstances dealing with a deployed serviceman, the law should be read with "an eye friendly to those who dropped their affairs to answer their country's call."
Lt. Batie is happy that he can put the Subway lawsuit behind him. He told Dallas News: "I feel good, I really do. I'm glad I can move forward and turn the page." He is planning for his current deployment in the Middle East in five weeks.
Related Resources:
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Summary (DOJ)
- Legal Protections for America's Military: The Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act and USERRA (Findlaw)
- Bankruptcy and Members of the Military (Findlaw)
- Franchising Law Overview (provided by Mario L. Herman)
- Becoming a Franchisee (provided by Courtney L. Campbell)