DLA Piper won a significant victory for its client, 7-Eleven, in a putative class action that was filed against 7-Eleven in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Four franchisees, individually and on behalf of a putative class consisting of all of 7-Eleven's approximately one thousand franchisees in California, asserted that because of the controls 7-Eleven allegedly exercises over its franchisees, they had been "misclassified" as independent contractors and were entitled to damages under both the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and the California Labor Code. According to their complaint, the plaintiffs' damages consisted of both overtime compensation and the expenses they were forced to incur in operating their stores, which they claimed averaged over US$500,000 per franchisee.

The plaintiffs subsequently moved the court to conditionally certify their claim under the FLSA and to certify a variety of classes on their remaining claims. In addition to opposing both of these motions, DLA Piper filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, asserting that the controls that 7-Eleven exercised over its franchisees were necessary to protect its trademarks, brand and good will and, therefore, were insufficient to create an employment relationship.

On March 14, 2018, the court entered an order dismissing plaintiffs' complaint with prejudice and denying plaintiffs' motions for conditional and class certification as moot. The court ruled that "the type or degree of control alleged by Plaintiffs is wholly insufficient to make them employees," and that the controls 7-Eleven exercises "do not exceed what is necessary to protect 7-Eleven's trademark, trade name and good will."

The DLA Piper team representing 7-Eleven included partners Norman Leon (Chicago), Ellen Bronchetti (San Francisco), and associate Michael Giambona (San Francisco).