7-ELEVEN: NCASEF Letter re Franchisee Protest in Vegas

The National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees (NCASEF) has sent a letter to UnhappyFranchisee.Com stating that its Board neither voted for nor endorsed the franchisee protest at the 7-Eleven Experience event in Las Vegas, as was stated in a published message submitted by a protester.

(UnhappyFranchisee.Com)   On Saturday, February 14, 2015, UnhappyFranchisee.Com received a sharply worded letter from Eric H. Karp, General Counsel for the National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees (NCASEF) stating that a 7-11 protest update we received and posted (verbatim) contained a “number of grossly inaccurate statements about the National Coalition.”

The letter referred to a franchisee update quoted in our post entitled 7-ELEVEN Franchise Experience Protest Update and Photos [UPDATED].

According to Mr. Karp’s letter, the update incorrectly stated that the NCASEF National Board decided to hold a protest rally at the 7-Eleven Experience event on February 11, 2015 in Las Vegas, and that the Board informed 7-Eleven CEO Joe DePinto of their intentions.

According to Mr. Karp, “Neither the Executive Officers nor the Board of the National Coalition decided or voted to hold, participate in or endorse any such protest rally.”

UnhappyFranchisee.Com revised the original post to include the NCASEF’s “corrections.”

Mr. Karp’s letter is posted below.

WITMER, KARP, WARNER & RYAN LLP

Counsellors at Law

22 Batterymarch Street

Boston, Massachusetts 02109

February 14, 2015

Sean Kelly, Publisher

UnhappyFranchisee.com

 

Dear Mr. Kelly:

We are General Counsel to the National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees (the “National Coalition”). We write to you regarding the article with accompanying photographs of protests at the 7-Eleven Experience currently posted on www.unhappyfranchisee.com. This posting contains a number of grossly inaccurate statements about the National Coalition.

The article states in part:
.

7-Eleven National Board held a meeting in Pechanga California on Jan. 20th 2015. The National Franchisee board decided to hold a protest rally at 7-Eleven Experience in Las Vegas Nevada on February 11-2015. The National Franchisee Board also brought this information to the attention of 7-Eleven executive team and CEO Joe DePinto that they plan to hold a protest rally at the MGM Grand during the 7-Eleven Experience.

.

The statement above is not accurate in the following ways:

• It was the Executive Officers and not the Board of the National Coalition that met on January 20, 2105 for a planning meeting; the Board was not present.
• Neither the Executive Officers nor the Board of the National Coalition decided to hold a protest rally at the recent 7-Eleven Experience in Las Vegas Nevada.
• Neither the Executive Officers nor the Board of the National Coalition decided or voted to hold, participate in or endorse any such protest rally.
• Neither the Executive Officers nor the Board of the National Coalition informed Joe DePinto or any other 7-Eleven executive that the National Coalition had voted to hold, participate in or endorse any protest rally.

We demand that www.unhappyfranchisee.com  retract that portion of the article quoted above, failing which we will hold you and unhappyfranchisee.com responsible for any damages caused by these gross misstatements.  Please be governed accordingly.

Very truly yours,

Eric H. Karp

We thank Mr. Karp for his clarification, and forgive him for closing with the obligatory (and baseless) attorney threat.  While the NCASEF can hold us or anyone they like “accountable” for 3rd party content likely provided by one of its own members, courts protect publishers such as UnhappyFranchisee.Com under Section 230 of the Civil Code.

However, we support franchisee advocacy efforts by the National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees and its regional Franchise Owners Associations, and invite them to submit further updates of their efforts to protect the welfare and investments of the 7-Eleven franchise owners they represent.

ALSO READ:

Has 7-ELEVEN Declared War on its Franchisees? (Index of 7-Eleven Posts)

7-ELEVEN Franchise Experience Protest Update and Photos [UPDATED]

7-ELEVEN Franchise Owners Protest 2015 “7-Eleven Experience” [PHOTOS]

7-ELEVEN Covering Up Illegal Plot to Purge Indian Franchisees, says Attorney

7-Eleven Franchise, CEO Joe DePinto Under Fire by Angry Franchisees

7-ELEVEN Franchise Lawsuit Alleges Exploitation of 7-11 Franchise Owners

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TAGS: 7-Eleven, 7-Eleven franchise protest, 7-Eleven Experience 2015, 7-Eleven franchise discrimination, 7-Eleven litigation, 7-Eleven protests, 7-Eleven franchisee dispute, 7-Eleven franchise opportunity, 7-Eleven franchise complaints, 7-Eleven franchisees, 7-Eleven unhappy franchisee, Joe DePinto, Joseph DePinto, NCASEF, National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees, Eric Karp