The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 50, 51, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178 were read on this motion to/for ORDER MAINTAIN CLASS ACTION. The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 004) 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 163, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 179-1, 200 were read on this motion to/for DISMISSAL. Motion sequence nos. 001 and 004 are consolidated for disposition. DECISION ORDER ON MOTION This putative class action concerns franchise rights plaintiffs purchased from defendant First Corporate Sedans, Inc. (FSC), a black car company that a competitor, defendant Elite Limousine Plus, Inc. (Elite) later acquired.1 In motion sequence no. 001, plaintiffs move, pursuant to CPLR article 9, for class certification, to appoint plaintiffs Shahid Buttar (Buttar), Haroon Rashid (Rashid), Stefan Berniczky (Berniczky), Muhammad Tarar (Tarar)2 and Jose Rodriguez (Rodriguez) (collectively, the Proposed Lead Plaintiffs) as lead plaintiffs and to appoint Slarskey LLC and Imbesi Law P.C. as class counsel. In motion sequence no. 004, Elite and defendant Shafquat Chaudhary (Chaudhary) (together, the Elite Defendants) move, pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (5) and (a) (7), to dismiss the claims brought by plaintiffs Shimon Asol (Asol), Viorel Sirbu (Sirbu), Arthur Nace (Nace), Shair Jawaid (Jawaid) and Roman Stasintchouk (Stasintchouk) and the first, second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth causes of action. BACKGROUND Plaintiffs are professional drivers (NYSCEF Doc No. 130, 1). FCS, with its subsidiary OZOcar, maintains a fleet of more than 375 vehicles3 (id., 50). Defendant Amir Ben Zion (Amir) is a majority owner of FCS and is its former chief executive officer (id., 51). His brother, defendant Guy Ben Zion (Guy) (together with Amir, the Ben Zions), is an owner of FCS and was a nominal executive officer and its president through 2017 (id., 52). Elite is based in Long Island City, New York (id., 53). Chaudhary is Elite’s president (id., 54). Beginning in the 1990s through May 2017, plaintiffs purchased franchises from FCS with each plaintiff paying between $25,000 to $40,000, amortized over a 5-to 10-year period, for which they received the right to drive on FCS’s network, a percentage of the revenues for each completed journey, and the ability to transfer their franchise rights to a third-party either directly or through an “on the shelf” consignment process managed by FCS (id.,
1-2, 60 and 66). Each plaintiff is an independent contractor to FCS (id., 2). To purchase a franchise, an existing FCS driver had to sponsor an incoming driver, and each incoming driver had to execute a written acknowledgement that he or she had reviewed a franchise disclosure document (id., 59). An incoming driver also executed a transfer sales agreement (TSA) and an independent contractor agreement (ICA) (together, the FCS Agreements) (id.,
