00-4212 Re/Max North Central, Inc. v. Patricia Cook

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“When Cook disagreed with the terms of the 1999 agreement, Re/Max repeatedly attempted to negotiate with her regarding the agreement’s terms. Even after these negotiations, Cook had almost 7 months during which she could have executed the 1999 agreement, and she stubbornly refused to do so, continuing to insist upon terms more favorable to herself. As we noted earlier, a franchisee cannot hold hostage a franchisor’s marks to force it to negotiate terms more favorable to the franchisee. Gorenstein Enterprises, Inc., 874 F.2d at 435. Although Cook paints herself as someone who desperately wished to retain her Re/Max franchise, her actions speak louder than her words. Re/Max made every effort to accommodate her. We agree with the trial judge’s ruling that Re/Max did not violate the WFDL when it finally terminated Cook’s franchise and therefore was likely to succeed on the merits.

“We further hold that the trial judge correctly ruled that Re/Max has established that it will suffer an irreparable injury if the injunction were not granted. Finally, we hold that the trial judge carefully and properly weighed the harm to each party.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Reynolds, J., Coffey, J.