In a potentially quite serious blow to franchising, on March 24, 2022 the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC) held in Patel v. 7-Eleven, 489 Mass. 356, 183 N.E.3d 398 (March 24, 2022), that Massachusetts' labor laws can be applied to the franchisor-franchisee relationship. Or, put more simply, that franchisees may be employees under Massachusetts law.