Brandon Heck Lawsuit | Kristin Heck Lawsuit | Defamation

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A few months after the lawsuit against Matthews Ballroom was filed, former franchisee Kristin Grasso Heck began posting what we believe to be highly defamatory comments about PBI and its officers online. Some of the posts have since been deleted by the Heck’s, but not before screenshots and video were collected by us.

The remarks we believe to be defamatory continued throughout the legal dispute with Matthews Ballroom and escalated in January 2019 when Kristin Grasso Heck’s husband Brandon Heck joined in on the attacks. Brandon Heck works in the “human capital“ department of Linden Capital Partners, a private equity firm based out of Chicago.

In May 2019, a joint lawsuit was filed against the Heck’s for defamation of character. The matter is an active case in Mecklenburg County. The lawsuit against Matthews Ballroom did not involve the Grasso/Hecks in any way. Grasso sold her franchise in mid-2016 for $90,000. It is unclear why she decided to get involved.

In early 2020, the Heck‘s attorney filed a motion to dismiss the case. The motion was denied and a court date has been set for early October 2020.

TIMELINE

• April 2018 - Lawsuit filed against Matthews Ballroom for nonpayment.
• June 1, 2018 - Matthews Ballroom franchise agreeements terminated due to persistent refusal to pay royalties.
• June 25, 2018 - Kristin Grasso Heck launched her first defamatory blog post, which was viewed by PB customers following her blog and social media channels. The blog was shared on Lisaney Kong’s social page with over 35,000 followers.
• August 1, 2018 - Kristin Grasso Heck posted her second defamatory blog article which was shared on social media by Matthews Ballroom’s Todd Liddell to numerous PB customers and franchisees.
• August 15, 2018 - Kristin Grasso Heck posted her third defamatory article centered around the false narrative that we committed crimes.
• January 22, 2019 - Kristin Grasso Heck posted a PB advertisement, referenced her blog and made disparaging comments about our company.
• January 23, 2019 - PB responded in a positive way, trying to remind Heck of the positive times and benefits she gained as a franchisee.
• January 23, 2019 - Brandon Heck publicly attacked us on social media making numerous false claims about our professional integrity and accusing us of committing fraud. PB deleted these posts. Kristin Heck reinstated them while further publicly sharing the Heck’s false narrative. Numerous PB customers and franchisees joined in on the defamatory comments.
• March 26, 2019 - The lawsuit with Matthews Ballroom commenced. PB was awarded financial damages. Matthews Ballroom counterclaims that we were guilty of deceptive business practices (fraud) were dismissed due to no evidence.
  

The timeline shows clear evidence that Kristin Grasso Heck began and heightened her defamatory comments about us in correlation to our lawsuit against Matthews Ballroom.

Kristin Grasso Heck was a first-time business owner who purchased the rights to use our brand and proprietary business model and who received our training and access to our confidential trade secrets.  It was a success by her own admission. This attack and smear campaign lacks any evidence and displays malicious intent.

Kristin Heck claims that her blog statements were general in nature and not directed at anyone. However, evidence clearly shows that the posts were shared soon after being published by PB franchisees and reviewed by unknown numbers of PB customers and the public in general. 

• PB franchisee Todd Liddell, who was party to the Matthews Ballroom lawsuit, identified Kristin‘s blog as being about our company.
• Kristin Grasso Heck‘s bio and timeline specifically mention her dance studio business, which interestingly is described as ”busy and successful”.
• “P.S. since my first post… so many heartfelt messages from people who found what I said helpful… overwhelmed with emotion several times knowing that this blog is making a difference and impacting people positively. Thank you for your… support.”
• “my last business venture…every company I had worked for prior to this had blips of drama or difficulties…nothing compared to what I experienced in my most recent career chapter.
• “…in the environment I worked in, it was always everyone else’s fault. Literally.”

We believe that Kristin is not only responsible for the damages her blog caused, but is also responsible for any damages caused when other people shared her publication.

Brandon Heck attempts to evade his responsibility for his words by stating that he was defending Kristin from harassment and stalking by us. This absurd notion has no basis in reality. details on Brandon‘s claim can be found here.

“A big company going after the little guys that worked for/with them.”

• PBI revenue ranged from $250k to $350K while Heck’s franchise produced about $200k to $250k. This false statement sets the stage for Heck’s accusations that PBI was this giant corporate bully, when in reality the company was about the same size as ONE franchise entity. This comment also accuses us of going after our franchisees in a negative manner. This comment damaged our reputation as franchisors and small business operators. Kristin uses her role as franchisee to gain credibility.

“…the little guy gets abused by the people at the top.”

• This is a false accusation that we abuse people. Kristin uses her role as franchisee to gain credibility.

“I started a business…without a lot of support.”

• This accusation is false and contradicts our franchisee agreement. This is damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business operators. Kristin uses her role as franchisee to gain credibility.

“…I continued to push through the corporate bully, malicious behavior, and toxic environment…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• These false accusations are damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business operators. Kristin uses her role as franchisee to gain credibility.

“when things fell apart…”

• Things never fell apart. Kristin acknowledges her business was successful and thrived. She states she sold it. Brandon acknowledges we build a good model. This false accusation is damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business operators, insinuating her experience as franchisee lead to failure. In reality, her revenues matched almost exactly the pro-forma given in our FDD. Kristin uses her role as franchisee to gain credibility.

“…get treated so badly…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation that we treat our franchisee badly. Kristin uses her role as franchisee to gain credibility. This comment damages our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“…get connected to a toxic company…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation that we engaged in “toxic” behavior as defined by Heck. Kristin uses her role as franchisee to gain credibility. This comment damages our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“…information you have is incomplete…”

• This comment is false and accuses us of improper disclosure. This comment is contrary to Kristin’s signed Disclosure Agreement. Kristin uses her role as franchisee to gain credibility. This comment damages our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“…doesn’t have a lot of data behind it yet.”

• Kristin was a shareholder of Matthews Ballroom and privy to company information. There was a decade of data showing very favorable results. Kristin uses her role as franchisee to gain credibility. This comment damages our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“…half a decade in a toxic business environment.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation of “toxic” behavior as defined by Kristin. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“Any person who needs to put you down to hold themselves up…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation that we put people down. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“…battling narcissism, manipulation, or deceit.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• Kristin uses her therapy degree and credentials to accuse us of being narcissists. Manipulation and deceit are illegal activities and are considered fraud in business law. These comments accuse us of committing crimes.

“Manipulative people are good at making coal look like gold.”

• This comment devalues our offerings as franchisors and small business owners and insinuates we dishonestly sell poor quality good

“I stand behind everything I write on this blog.”

• Kristin confirms these statements.

“…I’ve been through some massively difficult business experiences in the last couple of years.”

• False statement. Damages our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“I took my hair out of the mandatory bun, peeled the mandatory eyelashes off my eyes, washed the mandatory makeup off my face…my life could now be my own again.”

• False accusations that required professional conduct somehow took life from franchisees. Damages our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“…corporate office had sent: who are they suing?”

• False statement accusing us of suing our franchisees. The only lawsuits filed by us  were after we endured six months of dealing with franchisee mob rule and non-payment. Damages our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“What money are they asking for now?”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• Accusation of illegal theft. Our FA clearly laid out the terms of the relationship. Damages our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“What new crazy rule have they implemented?”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• Our FA clearly laid out the terms of the relationship. Damages our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“Who are they going to belittle or tear apart now?”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation that we belittle people. Damages our reputation as employers, franchisors and small business owner.

“…creep back in…thought the bully was gone…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation that we bully people. Damages our reputation as employers, franchisors and small business owner.

“…when you are the small guy in a big, toxic corporation, you are always fighting a losing battle and you get drained. I mean that literally and figuratively.”

• False narrative that PBI was big and toxic. Damages our reputation as franchisors and small business owner.

“In the literal sense…funds being siphoned… All. The. Time.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• This is an accusation of illegal activity and theft. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“In the literal sense…shady deals happening… All. The. Time.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• This is an accusation of illegal activity. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“The odds are always stacked firmly against you… and they know how to use it to their advantage.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• The mod mentality franchisees ganged up on us,, not the other way around.
• False accusation that the FA was somehow unfair. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“You don’t even realize [contract] loopholes exist…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims? What provisions of our contract contained “loopholes”?
• This is an accusation of fraud and misrepresentation. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“More importantly, I trusted that the people I had entered into contract with had my – or at least the business’s – best interests at heart. Unfortunately, as it played out, that was not the case at all.”

• This false statement insinuates we are untrustworthy and going into business with us is risky.

“When every day and every little thing is a battle that you can’t win, it’s exhausting.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• This false statement insinuates we are untrustworthy and going into business with us will put someone in an unfair situation.

“Nothing fancy, just real talk from real life – sometimes with a little psychology twist. There is nothing fake about these words and no secondary motivation behind them.”

• Kristin validates her comments and uses her Psychology degree and role as franchisee to gain credibility.

“3…abusive people…professional relationships…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation that we abuse people. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“3…the people above you scream, steal, publicly belittle, lie and cheat…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusations that we committed a crime. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business owner.

“5…toxic environment for a long period of time.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• More comments about “toxic” behavior.

“6…abusive employers hired you…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• More comments about us being abusive.

“6…they wouldn’t continue to try to be better than you...”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• More comments about us being bullies.

“6…they wouldn’t try to destroy you…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation that we destroy people. Damaging to our reputation.

“7…hurt people hurt other people.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• More comments that we hurt people

“8…toxic and manipulative people…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• More comments that our behavior is toxic and manipulative, the later being illegal and fraudulent. 

“8…make them temporarily successful or at least appear to be.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• Accuses our businesses of being unsuccessful. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

“P.S. since my first post… so many heartfelt messages from people who found what I said helpful… overwhelmed with emotion several times knowing that this blog is making a difference and impacting people positively. Thank you for your… support.”

• Confirmation of the reach of the entire smear campaign against us.

“my last business venture…every company I had worked for prior to this had blips of drama or difficulties…nothing compared to what I experienced in my most recent career chapter.

• Accusations that our business was filled with drama and difficulties. Damaging to our reputation.

“A toxic workplace…significant drama and infighting, where personal battles often harm productivity…considered the result of toxic employers…who are motivated by personal gain (power, money, fame or special status), use unethical, meanspirited and sometimes illegal means to manipulate and annoy those around them; and whose motives are to maintain or increase power, money or special status or divert attention away from their performance shortfalls and misdeeds.”

• Kristin defines “toxic workplace” and references these items throughout.

“This definition says everything I could want to say… it is, really, everything.”

• Kristin confirms as relevant all parts of the definition.

“I have seen this [definition] from every. single. side…identify with every single side of an issue.”

• Kristin confirms as relevant all parts of the definition.

“I firmly believe the cultural tone of a company is always created from the top down. If leaders scream, gossip, act catty, compete with their employees, lie, steal, then they have established a precedent and should expect that is how others in the company will behave as well…”

• Further false narrative that our behavior was toxic as defined above. Accordung to this statement, our franchisees screamed, gossiped, acted catty, competed with their employees, lied, and stole; their behavior was validated because we allegedly did it first and set the trend. There is overwhelming evidence franchisees acted in  this manner; where‘s the evidence we did these things?

“…in the environment I worked in, it was always everyone else’s fault. Literally.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation and generalization. Damaging to our reputation.

“The people at the top… everyone below them were ‘evil’, ‘stupid’, and/or ‘incompetent’.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• Accuses us of mistreating people. Damaging to our reputation.

“For me, that meant that my marriage, my family, my education, my appearance, who I was as a person…literally everything…was up for public disparagement.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• Accuses us of publicly disparaging people. Damaging to our reputation.

“In situations like this, those at the bottom must scramble…everyone is scheming, or creating secret plans, or feeling paranoid, or trying to create alignments with others so they can stay out of the line of fire…”

• Kristin admits that the franchisees schemed, created secret plans, felt paranoid, and created alignments against us; she validates this behavior by stating we acted in this manner first and therefore franchisees had a right to retaliate. Where is the evidence to support such claims?

“…it turns into one of those everyone for themselves type of situations…the people at the bottom… aren’t at fault here.”

• Same as above. Highly damaging to our reputation as the actions of betrayal of our franchisees is NOT our fault.

“Now for the psych angle…double blind communication…you are receiving two conflicting messages on two different levels… direct…indirect…a correct response to one message makes for a faulty response to the other message. You literally cannot win.”

• False accusation that we gave contradicting messages to our franchisees despite a thorough FDD, FA and Operations Manual. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors.

“…you simply don’t know what to do to be successful and everything you try fails.”

• False accusation that we gave contradicting messages to our franchisees despite a thorough, FDD, FA and Operations Manual. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors.

“…pit members against each other… people… are…forbidden from communicating;”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• More comments about toxic behavior.

“…the corporate office frequently berates managers in front of staff and colleagues;”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• More comments about us berating people.

“…corporate officers openly pride themselves on people being fearful of them;”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• More comments about toxic behavior.

“…corporate actively states that they aren’t interested in anyone’s opinion outside of their own.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• More comments about toxic behavior.

“On one hand, we want you to work together (words) but will do anything we can to discourage that and isolate you (actions).”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• More comments about toxic behavior.

“1…you will be criticized, threatened, and belittled no matter what you do, so do what you need to do for yourself… that’s a lot of truth…most freeing truth for me…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• Accusation that we threatening people are illegal. More comments that we belittle people. More comments validating franchisee mutiny.

“2…There is strength in numbers, but when employees are discouraged from communicating with each other openly…”

• More comments about toxic behavior.

“4…you must always push back when your boundaries have been crossed… you teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop, and what you reinforce…this is very true…including the [situation] we’re talking about.”

• More comments about toxic behavior.

“7…surrounded by toxicity… I can attest to these…when you are part of a larger toxic system, EVERYONE IS TRYING TO SURVIVE.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• More comments about toxic behavior. More comments validating franchisee mutiny.

“…I have gotten wind of many things that were said about me both while I was employed and after I left.”

• False narrative that Kristin was an employee when in reality she was an independent business owner. This is deceptive and damaging to our reputation as a franchisor.

“…when you are part of that kind of culture...be…wary of commentary from people at the center of the drama.”

• BE WARY OF COMMENTARY FROM PEOPLE AT THE CENTER OF THE DRAMA - agreed!

“I’ve been sitting quietly on the sidelines watching your entrepreneurial failures stack up.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False statement claiming multiple entrepreneurial ventures failing. This is highly damaging to our reputation in business.

“…the lies continue”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims? What lies? 
• False accusation of us committing a crime. Highly damaging.

“…all those…take you to court without a word.”

• False narrative as no one took us to court. Highly damaging insinuating we wronged lots of people in business.

 “…you degrade people…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors and small business owners.

 “…misled them…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• Accusation of fraud and misrepresentation. Highly damaging.

 “… took every penny you could…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• Accusation of fraud. Highly damaging.

 “…how hungry you are to take credit for anything and everything that anyone associated with you ever accomplished…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False narrative of our character in business.

“…your desire to self promote trumps all – including truth and reality.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation that we commit the crime of lying in order to self promote.

“…franchisees…leaving them with piles of legal fees…”

• False accusation that are to blame for possible legal fees of franchisees. Damaging to our reputation as franchisors as it causes doubt.

 “…franchisees…recoup their reputations…”

• False accusation that our franchisees’ reputations were damaged as a result of our actions. Causes doubt with future franchisees and clients.

“…franchisees…recoup…after your lies…”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation that we committed the crime of lying. Causes doubt with future franchisees and clients.

 “…franchisees…recoup…their money after what you two weaseled away.”

• Where is the evidence to support such claims?
• False accusation that we committed the crime of theft. Highly damaging.

Toxic, odds against you, manipulation, blah... blah... blah

• “More importantly, I trusted that the people I had entered into contract with had my – or at least the business’s – best interests at heart. Unfortunately, as it played out, that was not the case at all.”
• “Manipulative people are good at making coal look like gold.”
• “…half a decade in a toxic business environment.”
• “The odds are always stacked firmly against you… and they know how to use it to their advantage.”
• “...make them temporarily successful or at least appear to be.”
• “…you simply don’t know what to do to be successful and everything you try fails.”
• “when things fell apart…”

If the above were true (there is no evidence whatsoever), then how could you possibly be successful?

• “I built a busy and successful studio teaching not only dance lessons, but fitness classes as well.” - Kristin Heck bio
• ”If you want to take credit for something, take credit for putting together a dance syllabus and system that was good.” - Brandon Heck
• “I figure you could also benefit from being able to demonstrate that if you build a decently profitable studio, you can sell it and make some profit, which is a great selling point for potential new franchisees.” - Kristin Heck, June 20, 2016
• “I can build a business from the ground up and make it successful.” - Kristin Heck blog

Kristin Grasso Heck was a first-time business owner who purchased the rights to use our brand and proprietary business model and who received our training and access to our confidential trade secrets.  It was a success by her own admission. 

• Where are these “numerous” posts referencing Kristin Grasso Heck made by us?
• Where is the evidence of Kristin Heck being harassed and stalked? Kristin Heck was the one who posted pages of defaming comments about us, then posted one of our  ads (Post-franchisee with no right to use our IP) with disparaging comments and a link to her defaming blog,

EM misrepresented Kristin Heck’s experience at PB? Really?

• EM stated we trained Kristin as a professional. According to Kristin‘s own words, she was never a professional dancer prior to working in our company.
• EM stated she used her PB credentials to gain in future jobs. According to Kristin’s bio she did in fact list her PB experience under her credentials.
• “I built a busy and successful studio teaching not only dance lessons, but fitness classes as well.” -  Kristin Grasso Heck’s Blog Bio
• EM stated that Kristin was a successful franchisee: True

Mon, June 20, 2016 10:21 pm Kristin Heck wrote:
“In college, just after I had done my time on scholarship, I took a break from formal dancing and captained the basketball dance team instead. Not a popular choice. I didn’t decide to pursue a Master’s in dance, although my professor pushed really hard for me to follow that path. In fact, I didn’t pursue dancing at all after school, choosing instead to dance for a small dance company lead by a former Alvin Ailey soloist whose goal was simply to allow people to enjoy dancing. I came to your company looking to continue that joy. I moved to Charlotte because I loved the city and I wanted to be sure dancing was part of my new start there. When I found PB (or DanceSport Carolina at the time), I thought I found a place where I could continue to love dancing. Even better, I was offered the opportunity to make money while still dancing. It couldn’t have been better.“

Kristin Heck spends months attacking us with a barrage of defaming articles that were broadly shared with our client base, and according to her husband and herself, she’s the victim. Right.

We believe the following comments made by Kristin Grasso Heck prove she acted in malice when she posted these harmful articles about us.

• The answer from her discovery questions below states her comments were designed to add legitimacy and validity to her blog posts and allows her readers to connect and identify with her content. Her audience was our client base. She further states that her blog posts were not about us and yet they were immediately shared publicly by fellow franchisees who directly associated them with us. Our customers responded based on what they read.
• Brandon’s social attack was deleted by us, then intentionally reinstated by her. She admits she intended to post her comments publicly. She tags an affiliate of PB which has nothing to do with her. She falsely accuses us taking credit of someone else’s work, yet we did in fact train her by her own admission, she did in fact use her PB credentials to promote herself in her next ventures as shown in her bio, and she admits her franchise was a success. She continues her false narrative in the feed with PB customers accusing us of taking credit for her therapy degree of which there is no evidence. 
• “I stand behind everything I write on this blog.” - Kristin Grasso Heck
• “Nothing fancy, just real talk from real life – sometimes with a little psychology twist. There is nothing fake about these words and no secondary motivation behind them.” - Kristin Grasso Heck
• Kristin Grasso admits that her actions would be illegal if she mentioned us by name. She is incorrect that not using someone’s name gives you a pass on defamation. Her statements are clearly about us. Further, Brandon did mention us by name. By her own admission, she broke the law. “I’m not going to name names (mostly because I am not legally allowed to do so)...” - Kristin Grasso