STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS: Franchisees v. Goldeneye Holdings Lawsuit

STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS: Goldeneye Holdings Franchise Lawsuit exposes another method janitorial franchises use to prey on the hopes and dreams of hardworking Americans.  The suit was filed January 1, 2012 on behalf of 52 Spanish-speaking Orange County residents who claim they were victims of fraud at the hands of Stratus Building Solutions master franchisee Goldeneye Holdings Inc. DBA Stratus Building Solutions of Orange.

(UnhappyFranchisee.com)  The lawsuit against Stratus Building Solutions master franchisee Goldeneye Holdings Inc. alleges that the company blatantly scammed Spanish-speaking franchisees by promoting the franchise in Spanish language publications, conducting the sales presentations in Spanish, then coercing them to sign English franchise agreements they could not read.

After the franchisees had signed and paid for their guaranteed work, the lawsuit alleges that none of them ever received the cleaning accounts they were promised – and paid for.

We have posted excerpts from the lawsuit filing below, followed by a link to .pdf of the legal complaint filing.

Are you familiar with the Stratus Building Solutions franchise opportunity? Please share a comment below.

To read more on Stratus Building Solutions:

STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS Franchise Complaints

STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS: Open Letter From Unit Franchisees

STRATUS Franchise: Are Stratus Master Franchisees Jumping Ship?

STRATUS Franchise Called “Pyramid Scheme” on FOX News

Janitorial / Commercial Cleaning Franchise Issues

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Excerpts from ALFRED MENDOZA, DELFINO MORALES, Et. AL. v. GOLDENEYE HOLDINGS, INC. dba STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS OF ORANGE

Superior Court of California

County of Orange

Case Number : 30-2012-00536505-CU-FR-CJC

COMPLAINT

BOHM, MATSEN, KEGEL & AGUILERA, LLP

A. Eric Aguilera, Esq. (Bar No. 192390)

Park Tower

695 Town Center Drive, Ste. 700

Costa Mesa, California 92626

Telephone: (714) 384-6500

Facsimile: (714) 384-6501

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

ORANGE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT CENTRAL JUSTICE CENTER

ALFRED MENDOZA, DELFINO MORALES, HERIBERTO NAVARRO, JESSICA DOMINGUEZ, CESAR G. NAVA, GERARDO RODRIQUEZ

GRACIDA, JOSE LUIS RAMIREZ ZUNIGA, JAVIER QUINTO ORTIZ, FERNANDO QUINTANA, MARIA INES PALACIOS, FAUSTO PALACIOS, ELVA PEREZ ALBOR, MARIA DE LOS ANGELES PIEDRAS, GUILLERMO RODRIGUEZ, JAVIER RODRIGUEZ BELTON, RUFINA JARDON, MIGUEL A. ROJAS, M. ANGEL MELGOZA, NAZARIO ROJAS, ALEJANDRO ROJAS, RUBEN ROJAS, ROCIO ROJAS, BLANCA GUADALUPE SANDOVAL, BETZABETH G. DE SILVA, JAIME VARGAS, ALDENAHURA ANGELES, PEDRO REBOLLEDO, MIGUEL BARAJAS, JOSE LUIS BARRAGAN, OFELIA BECERRA, MARIA MARGARITA BRAVO, MARILU BURCIAGA, SOCORRO CAMACHO, MAGDALENA CANTE, YANINA CORONA, ORLANDO CORTEZ, VERONICA CUEVAS, OLGA ESQUIVEL, MARIA DEL CARMEN GAMA, JAVIER GARCIA, MAJDIEL GOMEZ, ALDO GUTIERREZ, FRANCISCO GUZMAN, MANUEL HERNANDEZ, ALFONSO JIMENEZ, RAFAELA LUNA, LUZ MARIA MAGAÑA, PEDRO MAYO, LUIS GABRIEL MEJIA, MELCHOR MENDOLA, PEREYRA GABRIELA, CLAUDIO MEDIZA  Plaintiffs,

vs.

GOLDENEYE HOLDINGS, INC. dba STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS OF ORANGE, a California Corporation; and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive,  Defendants.

COMPLAINT FOR:

1. FRAUD;

2. VIOLATION OF CALIFORNIA BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS CODE §§ 17200 ET SEQ; AND

3. BREACH OF CONTRACT. DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
PARTIES

Plaintiffs are, and at all times mentioned herein were, residents of the State of California. All Plaintiffs purchased franchises from Defendant STRATUS, yet never actually received the franchises nor the income that was promised to them by the Defendant.

Defendant GOLDENEYE HOLDINGS, INC. dba STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS OF ORANGE (“STRATUS”), is a California Corporation which is authorized to and does business in the State of California…

COMPLAINT

For some… the American Dream can become a nightmare. In this complaint, the Plaintiffs will detail how the Plaintiffs’ attempt to achieve the “American Dream” was thwarted by the new American reality: the corporate scam.

A. The Anatomy Of Stratus’ Fraudulent Scam

The first phase of the defendant’s scam is simple- target victims who don’t speak English. The Defendant accomplishes this goal by only advertising in Spanish speaking publications…

The advertisements seeks to attract Latino immigrants with promises of financial freedom if they purchase janitorial franchises from Defendant STRATUS. The advertisements encourage prospective franchisees to immediately call or visit “Fernando”, one of its sales  representatives.

The second phase of the fraud begins during the sales process. Whether the prospective franchisees call in or shows up in person, the prospective franchisee is required to sit down with “Fernando”. “Fernando” proceeds to solicit the franchisees in Spanish, discussing all issues related to their franchises in Spanish and explaining all terms and conditions of the alleged franchise agreements in Spanish.

During his “pitch”, “Fernando” informs those that are interested in purchasing a STRATUS franchise that STRATUS sells sixteen (16) different franchises, franchises that will earn the prospective franchisee between $6,000 a year to $204,000 a year. During this presentation, Plaintiffs are enticed to purchase the franchises because STRATUS guarantees a certain monthly income based upon the size of their franchise.

Moreover, STRATUS promises the prospective franchisees that their cleaning locations would be geographically located in close proximity to their residence and that they would be guaranteed to make a higher hourly rate because their contracts were extremely lucrative.

Once the prospective franchisee agrees to purchase a franchise, “Fernando” immediately pulls out a franchise agreement in English and immediately insists that the prospective franchisee sign the agreement in order to reserve a franchise since it contends that its franchising opportuuities are about to be sold out.

Once the prospective franchisee signs the agreement and pays the franchise fee, he is informed by “Fernando” that STRATUS will be calling the franchisee shortly to inform them of the location of their new franchise. Despite these promises, none of the prospective franchisees are ever given the franchise they purchased nor are they ever provided with a refund from STRATUS for its inability to provide the franchise it promised.

In the present case, each of the Plaintiffs purchased a franchise from STRATUS and none of them ever received the franchise they were promised by “Fernando”, while acting as an agent for STRATUS.

–  End of excerpt  –

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Read the Full Complaint (.pdf):  Stratus Building Solutions Goldeneye Lawsuit

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