Osaka Court Discards Claim That 7-Eleven Unjustly Terminated A Franchise Contract

The Osaka District Court dismissed a lawsuit claiming that 7-Eleven Japan Co, unjustly terminated its contract with a convenience store franchisee, Mitoshi Matsumoto, over his decision to stop late-night operations.

The court's presiding judge, Masanori Yokota, accepted 7-Eleven’s argument that Matsumoto's sometimes physical attitude toward customers had damaged the operator's brand image and that the contract termination based on his treatment of customers was legal.

The court also ordered Matsumoto, the 60-year-old former franchisee, to give up the store and pay damages to 7-Eleven Japan Co. The court ordered Matsumoto to pay the operator about 14.5 million Yen (US$102,835 ) in damages while charging him about 110,000 yen for each day he failed to return the store and its equipment after the cancellation.

Matsumoto had earlier spearheaded a campaign among the nation's convenience store owners for shorter opening hours. In 2019, he unilaterally discontinued late-night business at his 7-Eleven in Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture, citing a lack of staff. Seven-Eleven terminated his contract on 31 December 2019, saying it had received about 320 complaints about the store between its opening in 2012 and October 2019, about nine times the national average.