Groundbreaking Court Decision Has National Implications Against Franchisor Snap-on Tools

Groundbreaking Court Decision Has National Implications Against
Franchisor Snap-on Tools 


NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Dec. 22  /PRNewswire/ -- Marks & Associates announced the
following today:

In a groundbreaking legal opinion, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Mathias E.
Rodriguez has determined that the wives of Snap-on Tools dealers have an
independent legal right to sue the franchisor in court before a jury, in
connection with their own fraud claims against the company and, accordingly,
are not bound to bring their claims in arbitration.

Prior to Judge Rodriguez's decision, Snap-on had argued that claims of the
spouses, like those of their tool dealer husbands, had to be brought in a
proceeding before the American Arbitration Association.

"This decision has nationwide implications for all 3,400 current Snap-on
dealers, as well as all former dealers and their wives who claim that they were
defrauded in their franchise agreement by Snap-on," said Gerald A. Marks, the
Red Bank, N.J.-based attorney representing the three plaintiffs in the case
before Judge Rodriguez. The plaintiffs in the New Jersey case are: Nancy Casey
of Middletown, Abbye Goldwasser of New Brunswick and Maritza Franco of Scotch
Plains. Marks now plans to institute additional suits on behalf of the wives of
other Snap-on franchisees in New York, Florida, California, Ohio, and other
states nationwide.

"The wives wanted to present their claims before a jury because the terms of
the arbitration clause limits their legal rights by shortening the time to
bring suit, limits the scope of pre-trial discovery and prevents the wives from
banding together in either a joint or class action," Mr. Marks explained. "A
jury trial offers the most objective forum for the spouses to prove their claim
that Snap-on had engaged in a consistent, deliberate policy of inducing
families to invest their money into a franchised tool route, when Snap-on knew
that the territory contained an insufficient amount of customers, or that a
previous dealer had failed in that very same route."

Commenting on the Court's decision, Susan Kezios, President of the American
Franchisee Association, said, "The gates of justice are now open to wives and
other family members who were hurt by Snap-on's wrongful action. Like many
other franchise companies, Snap-on will no longer be able to hide adverse
decisions against it through the arbitration process. This confidential process
does not permit a finding of franchisor wrongdoing in one arbitration to be
used in another, as is the case in normal court proceedings." 

DATASOURCE: Marks & Associates



CONTACT:  Gerald Marks, Esq., or Justin Klein, [phone], both of

Marks & Associates; Martin Gitlin, Duran/Gitlin Group, [phone], for

Marks & Associates

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