Wiggin and Dana's Franchise Law Blog

Anxiety Doesn't Get Franchise Executive Out of Court

A Manhattan court has denied the request of the president of two companies that together own approximately 400 Blimpies restaurants to be excused from testifying in court in connection with a landlord-tenant dispute, notwithstanding his claim of severe anxiety. As this article in the New York Law Journal reports, the judge concluded that "[a]lthough testifying in court may be stressful for Mr. Lagano, as it may be for many witnesses, there is no testimony indicating that his appearance to testify in court is life-threatening or that [he] is 'incompetent.'"