On 22 April 2015, the District Court of East Brabant (ECLI:NL:RBOBR:2015:2333) ruled on a dispute between a franchisee and a franchisor (Emt\u00e9 Franchise BV). about the settlement of a terminated cooperation under the supermarket formula of Emt\u00e9<\/span><\/p>\n The franchisee and franchisor terminated the partnership and entered into a termination agreement. This stipulates that the franchisee will receive an additional amount of \u20ac 200,000 from the franchisor. It was agreed that this amount could be set off against outstanding amounts. It has also been stipulated that the party acting in violation of the termination agreement must pay a penalty to the other party of \u20ac 100,000 and an amount of \u20ac 1,000 for each day that the violation continues.<\/span><\/p>\n The franchisor deducts a portion of approximately \u20ac 24,000 from the amount to be paid of \u20ac 200,000. This amount related to an earlier discussion about an unpaid (part of) an invoice to the franchisee. This had also been discussed when the termination agreement was drawn up and, at the insistence of the franchisee, it was deleted from the termination agreement that the relevant invoice would be deducted from the amount of \u20ac 200,000 to be subsequently paid.<\/span><\/p>\n The court rules that the franchisee was right to assume that the amount of approximately \u20ac 24,000 would not be deducted from the additional payment of \u20ac 200,000, despite the remaining general provision in the franchise agreement that settlement could be made with outstanding amounts. At the insistence of the franchisee, the chargeability of the relevant invoice had been removed from the termination agreement. The franchisee’s claim for payment of the amount of approximately \u20ac 24,000 plus statutory interest is granted.<\/span><\/p>\n