CUPPY’S COFFEE: Ochsenreiter Sues Medina & FranSynergy for $132M
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(FranchisePick.Com)- 7 months ago Ochsenreiter was excited about all that Medina had accomplished, all it was going to accomplish, and its contribution to the local business economy.
A lot sure can change in 7 months.
In that amount of time, Medina was purchased by Dale Nabors’ Fransynergy, Ochsenreiter was reportedly let go, the staff was cut, the company is beseiged with lawsuits, and Medina’s final contribution to the local economy was renting the trucks to move the Home Office to Muscle Shoals, AL.
Oh, and Donald Ochsenreiter sued Medina & FranSynergy for $132,306,000.
Today, jd reports:
Well, it looks like a new lawsuit has been filed in federal court, this time with Medina and Fransynergy named as defendants:
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-flndce/case_no-3:2008cv00457/case_id-51868/
Doing a quick search on the name, it appears that this is the former CFO and Exec VP of the company. Also looks like he is demanding quite a bit of money. No documents have been filed at this time.
Looks like troubles continue to mount for Medina & its owner Fransynergy:
OCHSENREITER v. MEDINA ENTERPRISES, INC. et al
Plaintiff: DONALD C. OCHSENREITER
Defendant: MEDINA ENTERPRISES, INC. and FRANSYNERGY, INC.
Case Number: 3:2008cv00457
Filed: October 9, 2008
Court: Florida Northern District Court
Office: Pensacola Office [ Court Info ]
County: Okaloosa
Nature of Suit: Contract – Other Contract
Cause: 28:1332 Diversity-Breach of Contract
Amount Demanded: $132,306,000.00
The details of the suit are not yet clear, but one thing is: you can never anticipate the next twist or turn in the ongoing saga of Cuppy’s Coffee.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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Photo credit: FranBest.com used by permission
Don had an employment contract. Dale fired him before Don’s time was up. Therefore Dale/Medina/Fransynergy owes Don a LOT of $. Zee’s you need to go ahead & get together and file lawsuits or do it on your own. If you can’t finish your project onn your own, you are screwed. Stop the bleeding; take action & put Dale & Morg in jail where they both belong. I’m sure that once zee’s file, x-employees will gladly testify. If you keep putting up with Dale’s delays & lack of communication you are all screwed
Don’s a great guy. Next time I need help negotiating, I know who to call!
I would like to point out, that this is the first time that I’ve heard Don’s name in any of the discussion and I’ve been keeping track of this from the beginning.
With that being the case, I think he probably got scammed just like the rest.
You’re right, Dale’s non communication is a stall tactic and he has plans to use our money and it’s not to deliver what we paid for. We need to see through this. He is just trying to figure out another way to get us to send him our money. We can’t let it happen. I mean even if someone were going to give him another chance, it’s FRIDAY and I am pretty sure there weren’t any calls made this week. i know i tried calling in several times to several different people and got voicemail EVERY TIME. Not once did any employee up there try to return my call. What a joke. Even when he is pleading and begging us to help him he can’t be honest. This man deserves everything he gets.
Don was a great guy but I wish more people would have known that while he was there. He is defintely enjoyinf life a lot more right now without having to be a part of this drama story. It’s nice to know that Dale hasn’t ruin every person’s life that has come across his path.
Zee’s you need to go ahead & get together and file lawsuits or do it on your own. If you can’t finish your project onn your own, you are screwed… If you keep putting up with Dale’s delays & lack of communication you are all screwed
Has anyone been advised by an attorney as to the best way to get out of the franchise agreement and operate independently?
jd has made the point that the amount you’ll save without the Elite markup will offset some of your losses thus far.
You’re right, Dale’s non communication is a stall tactic
Has anyone been contacted by Dale and held their one on one conference calls?
isn’t 7-10 days from last Friday just about up?
What happened to the improved communication?
Go get um Don!
Don was a very smart guy & I wish him well. Where is Dale/Morg/Medina/Fransynergy going to get the funds to pay him $132M
I hear most of the employees that worked at Cuppy’s with Don really liked him. Dale fired him & did not pay him his severence.
With this lawsuit, does this mean that Cuppy’s/Medina/Fransynergy is definently bankrupt?
Bankrupt… Yes
Well let’s see here, the ex employees were never paid their last paychecks, the AL crew is barely being paid, vendors are not being paid, there are no sales, no back ends coming in, I would say they are fresh out of money and now being sued for $132M on top of all the other law suits. I bet bankruptcy is right down the path. Along with many many court appearances. And we wonder where all the tax money goes to.
Don, how can you say Medina, Morg or dale owe you money when you didn’t do what you were hired to do which was to find Medina operating capital for Medina.
Guest, is there a chance that Don wasn’t able to get additional capital because of any of the following:
1) The company’s financials were so bad that no one wanted to touch it?
2) Maybe when a company was doing due diligence they realized that something was wrong with the operations of the company.
3) Maybe the company wanted more ownership than what Morg/Dale wanted to give up.
4) Maybe Don didn’t have enough time to get the necessary capital. How long did he work there 3-4 months?
There are countless reasons that may have been out of his control. Look at what this company was before he got there. A company of 120+employees with high rent that was using ‘refundable’ deposits to support their day to day activities and to have loans advanced for work not being completed. It may have been out of his control.
jd:
Good points. Here’s an active and respected businessman (from what I can tell) from the local community who finished up an executive position with Burton at $180K year. Imagine the promises and plans Morg must have laid out to get him on board the overloaded and leaking Black Pearl.
Equity down the road was likely involved, methinks.
Then, what… a month later… the company’s handed off to Dale Nabors and all bets are off?
He joined in March… Morg turns over the helm to the cabin boy by the end of April and he and Ben Doyle take off on their jet skis?
Amazing that they would add a $100K salary to the already bloated payroll for the purpose of generating more debt rather than opening the stores or supporting franchisees. All the while, not generating a cent in royalty revenue.
Sorry, Don O. You got Cuppied.
I wonder if Don O likes Maine?
jd, you write “There are countless reasons that may have been out of his control”… So it’s ok for things to happen that’s out of Don’s control BUT as so many of the writers on tis blog state that it’s not ok for thing sto be out of other employees control. That’s a double standard! the truth is that NO ONE had ANY control except Dale & Morg.
Guest, how much interaction did Don have with the franchisees and prospective franchisees? My guess is very little if he was brought in to help secure additional capital. In a similar position, I never talked to prospective franchisees or the ones being built.
Mr. Admin is right and right about many things. Yes, Don was kept in a small office and never had any interaction with franchisee’s or employees for that matter. Mr. Admin is also right about Dale Nabors being a little ol’ cabin boy for mean nasty Morg. Dale Nabors bragged constantly about his 25 years of franchising experience but he was soooo naive to the situation he was getting into, buying this mean, nasty, deceptive franchise under the “black flag.” I bet Morg had Dale Nabors tied to the mast and blindfolded and maybe a sword poking him in his little fat belly. I bet Morg and his swashbucklers told Dale Nabors he would be walking the plank if he didn’t take over Cuppy’s. By doing this Morg could ride into the sunset in his “10 year old used Jaguar” and go hide out in his “rented” condo. Back to Don O….he was lied to to and screwed over by Dale Nabors just like most all of the employees. Many idle promises was made to Don by this poor lil’ cabin boy and now Dale is going to have to explain to the Judge why he screwed Don and so many other people. I am still puzzled as to your relationship with Dale Nabors Mr. Admin???? You constantly defend him, so come clean with us Mate, what gives?
Based on history, it’s safe to assume that there is no love lost between Admin and Nabors. I think Admin simply finds the truth to be somewhere in the middle.
The facts will show that: Don O’s salary was closer to 250K, and that he was actively seeking control and ownership of the company for himself. Nabors talked with Don O about the organizations inability to support a 250K per year CFO, and the decision was that Don O would resign. The lawsuit is an attempt by Don O to collect on deferred compensation, severance and bonuses which may or may not be owed under the terms of his employment contract.
fran: I am still puzzled as to your relationship with Dale Nabors Mr. Admin???? You constantly defend him, so come clean with us Mate, what gives?
JavaGal it’s safe to assume that there is no love lost between Admin and Nabors.
The winner is… JavaGal!
I’ve got no relationship with any of the crew other than, methinks it’s safe to say, they all hate my guts and see me as a royal pain in the arse… a small source of satisfaction for the billable time and brain cells I have donated to the cause of Cuppy Watching.
On the contrary, I actually have more respect (if you can call it that) for Morg than Dale, as I believe that he is much better at this game. So far, he is the Teflon Zor. He seems to be a genius at telling people what they want to hear. He seems to be a master of staying in the background and remaining a moving target.
Dale is simply not good at this, in my opinion. He publicly makes promises then almost immediately breaks them. He seems to go out of his way to alienate almost everyone except a few Alabama Dream Teamers. While Morg seems to insulate himself with people who want to see him succeed, Dale seems to create people who want to see him fail. As one whose motto is “Believe & Succeed,” Dale lacks Morg’s flair for getting people to “believe.” The “succeed” part seems to have eluded both of them.
In the end, I’m just an observer, commentator and thorn in their collective side. I doubt either one of them will be sending me a holiday coffee basket this year… at least one that’s not ticking.
Latest Update…. The sky has fallen on Dale Nabor’s Dream Team in AL. Dale has finally gotten up enough nerve to meet with the employees that followed him up to Muscle Shoals, AL and told them he can NOT get the money to pay them. But he wanted to know who would continue to work for him for FREE. Has he lost his mind totally? He also told them if they would not stay and work free he did not want them to blog him. WTF????!!!!! He’s an arrogant sh it!! So… now there are NO employees at Cuppy’s/Elite/Medina! Dale is still trying to sell Elite contracts to Brian Hayes. But remember franchisees… Brian Hayes/SBT or whatever name they go by these days is overcharging you for buildout and equipment. Your best bet is to take whatever loss you have now and sue Morg/Dale/Medina/Fransynergy and try to recoup your deposit moneys. Cuppy’s is dead! Even if a franchisee let SBT continue to build them out, I would NOT call it Cuppy’s. Cuppy’s has an awful name and I don’t evenn think God himself can raise that dead franchise. Franchisee please listen up… you need to join together to get justice. There are more people out here willing to help you get that justice than you may think. Good luck to you zees and to the employees that followed Dale to AL and had work for 2 months without pay. I wish you all well.
The complaint is now online. He’s asking for $132k, so it looks like what was originally on the justia website was incorrect.
Will he get this money? I think based on his employment contract, he’s owed the money, but I don’t think there is any money to pay him.
jd:
have you got a link to it or a copy I can post?
Here is the Florida attorney generals email address .ag.mccollum@myfloridalegal.com . I sent him a email last week. The FBI said the attorney general is looking at Cuppy’s. So the more people who write him and tell their story the better chance we all have. I’m not going to stop until they are behind bars.
As expected, Dale failed to respond to the lawsuit and Ochsenreiter is now seeking a default judgement. They are starting to pile up.
good thing im first in line for collections!
Cuppy’s franchisees are all wimps.People like Steve Ottjepka,John Devine,Claudia Robbins and the rest of the people that have been whining for over a year now have done NOTHING to stop Dale and Brian Hayes from living their normal life or to make them pay for their fraud except whine on these blog sites.This is what is wrong with America today,all talk,no action.If you franchisees really feel you got scammed have some balls and do something about it!!!
Steve (and I doubt this poster is Steve), you don’t know squat. You will have to wait along with the others to find out what is going on.
There’s a lot of stuff going on so someone is really outta the loop {and probably for good reason}. By the way, what is Dale’s “normal life”. If you know so much …. do tell. Share the knowledge.
Don got his defalult judgement entered today:
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
PENSACOLA DIVISION
DONALD C. OCHSENREITER
VS CASE NO. 3:08cv483 MCR/MD
MEDINA ENTERPRISES, INC., ET AL
DEFAULT
Upon Application of the Plaintiff in the above styled cause and having examined
the records and there appearing to be no responsive pleadings filed by the
defendant(s), default is hereby entered against MEDINA ENTERPRISES, INC. and
FRANSYNERGY, INC. on April 14, 2009.
April 14, 2009
WILLIAM M. McCOOL, CLERK OF COURT
/s/ Lynn C. Uhl
DATE Deputy Clerk: Lynn Uhl
Is the default judgement for $132M?