Letter Suggests Jerry Flanagan Was Removed From JDog Franchise for Sexual Harrassment

Franchise industry watchdog site UnhappyFranchisee.com has received a letter from an anonymous source that indicates that the CEO & Co-Founder of JDog Brands was investigated for sexual harrassment in 2019.  The letter, which has not been corroborated, indicates that the results of the investigation prompted the company to appoint Kevin Kopa as President and Chief Operating and to discourage alcohol or non-business interactions between corporate representatives and employees of JDog franchisees.  The letter states “Mr. Flanagan will continue on with his duties as Chief Executive Officer of the Company, but will have no further involvement with day-to-day junk removal franchise operations.” by Sean Kelly, publisher, UnhappyFranchisee.Com

Related reading: Does the JDog Franchise Program Exploit Veterans & Military Families?

On May 20, 2019, JDog Brands announced the promotion of Marine Corps Veteran Kevin Kopa to President and Chief Operating Officer, “effective immediately.”

The company press release cited the company’s growth as the reason for Kopa’s promotion:

“JDog Junk Removal & Hauling is growing rapidly across the U.S. Consumers want to support Veteran-owned businesses and trust the JDog brand, which has created increased demand for our high-quality services,” said Jerry Flanagan, founder and CEO of JDog Brands. “In order for JDog Brands to continue its momentum, we need a leader like Kevin to take the reins of JDog Junk Removal & Hauling. Not only does Kevin embody the JDog values of Respect, Integrity, and Trust, he understands the Military experience and what it takes to run a successful franchise.”

However, an anonymous tip – as of yet uncorroborated – contends that the promotion came after an investigation of a sexual harassment complaint levelled against Jerry Flanagan.

The letter was allegedly sent on May 3, 2019 from attorney Sean P. McDevitt of Pepper Hamilton, LLP to Linda B. Hollinshead, Esquire, of Duane Morris LLP.

It states that accounts given by those present at a JDog company dinner, and interaction between Mr. Flanagan and the employee of a JDog franchisee, provided “an understanding of the events that occurred and the dynamics involved.”

Attorney McDevitt allegedly stated that the company was taking “certain corporate structure and policy changes that will be made to ensure that events like those that occurred will not happen again.”

The changes allegedly included the following:

1. Kevin Kopa will be shortly promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company, and in that role will have primary responsibility for interacting with
franchisees in that role.
2. Mr. Flanagan will continue on with his duties as Chief Executive Officer of the Company, but will have no further involvement with day-to-day junk removal franchise
operations.
3. Mr. Flanagan’s revised role will not require further contact with any of the staff of [JDog Franchisee entity redacted], and all future matters between the Company and [JDog Franchisee entity redacted], have been delegated to the Chief Operating Officer to handle.
4. The Company will shortly adopt a corporate policy of discouraging the serving of alcohol at JDog sponsored franchisee meetings or franchisee events
5. The Company will shortly adopt a corporate policy prohibiting any nonbusiness socializing by Company representatives with franchisee employees. Although we will continue to encourage interactions between Company representatives and franchisee employees during business-related events like facilities tours, training programs and business-related activities, Company representatives will be instructed to refrain from interacting with franchisee employees in nonbusiness settings like bars, restaurants or other informal settings.
6. Mr. Flanagan’s Employment Agreement will be modified to add termination for cause provisions in his agreement if any of the newly implemented policies regarding alcohol are violated.

Attorney McDevitt concludes with the request that the information be held until the company could announce it publicly:

While you can feel free to share the foregoing information with your client, I would appreciate if you would advise your client not to publicly disclose such information until the Company has had an opportunity to make a public announcement, which it intends to do shortly.

We have reached out to JDog Brands, Mr. Flanagan, Mr. Kopa and the attorneys to corroborate or refute the authenticity of the letter and the information it contains.

The full text of the letter is posted below.

400 Berwyn Park
899 Cassatt Road
Berwyn, PA 19312-1183
610.640.7800
Fax 610.640.7835

Sean P. McDevitt
direct dial: 610.640.7856
mcdevitts@pepperlaw.com

May 3, 2019
via email

Linda B. Hollinshead, Esquire
Duane Morris LLP
30 South 17th Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-4196

Re: JDog Junk Removal

Dear Linda:
Based upon our previous discussions, we have concluded the investigation by JDog Franchises, LLC (the “Company”) into the events occurring on January 30, 2019 in Atlanta.

As an initial matter, thank you for your efforts in making arrangements for several of the attendees at the January 30 dinner to speak with Philip Deming. The accounts given by those present at the dinner to the Company’s investigator, while sometimes conflicting, have provided us an understanding of the events that occurred and the dynamics involved. Armed with such understanding, the Company has elected to take prompt, remedial action and to make certain structural changes to ensure events of this type do not occur again. Because this investigation involved a personnel matter, involved certain employee personal privacy interests, and was done at the direction and under the supervision of counsel, we will not go into a full recitation of all steps taken in response to these events. We can, however, describe certain corporate structure and policy changes that will be made to ensure that
events like those that occurred will not happen again. These changes include the following:

1. Kevin Kopa will be shortly promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company, and in that role will have primary responsibility for interacting with
franchisees in that role.

2. Mr. Flanagan will continue on with his duties as Chief Executive Officer of the Company, but will have no further involvement with day-to-day junk removal franchise
operations.

3. Mr. Flanagan’s revised role will not require further contact with any of the staff of [JDog Franchisee entity redacted], and all future matters between the Company and [JDog Franchisee entity redacted]  have been delegated to the Chief Operating Officer to handle.

4. The Company will shortly adopt a corporate policy of discouraging the serving of alcohol at JDog sponsored franchisee meetings or franchisee events

5. The Company will shortly adopt a corporate policy prohibiting any nonbusiness socializing by Company representatives with franchisee employees. Although we will continue to encourage interactions between Company representatives and franchisee employees during business-related events like facilities tours, training programs and business-related activities, Company representatives will be instructed to refrain from interacting with franchisee employees in nonbusiness settings like bars, restaurants or other informal settings.

6. Mr. Flanagan’s Employment Agreement will be modified to add termination for cause provisions in his agreement if any of the newly implemented policies regarding alcohol are violated.

While you can feel free to share the foregoing information with your client, I would appreciate if you would advise your client not to publicly disclose such information until the Company has had an opportunity to make a public announcement, which it intends to do shortly.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely yours,

Sean P. McDevitt
/dlh

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