Pizza Inn has sued its formal legal counsel Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, for its role in rewriting employment agreements for the company's former General Counsel, the CEO, the CFO and the senior vice president of franchise operations. According to the lawsuit, Akin, Gump breached its fiduciary duties in amending the employee agreements, which provided that if the officers left for “good reason” or were removed from their board positions, they would receive payouts of $7.4 million. Pizza Inn also alleged that Akin, Gump conspired with the officers to amend the bylaws to restrict the shareholders' ability to change the Board of Directors or to call special meetings. Although Pizza Inn has not specified damages, it seeks a broad range, including penalties and interest and a disgorgement of all fees paid to all Akin, Gump during its representation.
Posted by franchiselawblog at October 8, 2004 02:33 PM