In the summer of 2007 I discovered that times were changing in the United States. I saw
the dark clouds that were looming over the horizon of the American economy. The dancing girl
business that had given me prosperity for the previous 13 years was in a decline. I could no
longer count on it to support the affluent lifestyle that I had become accustomed to. The
exotic dancing business was always a matter of risk in comparison to reward. This fact
was magnified many times in my case since I had become so high profile in the dancing
girl industry. For years I had become a target for the politically ambitious; like District Attorney
Jeanine Pirro of Westchester County NewYork. Having me convicted in a high profile case
could make a career for a very zealous public servant and I had come to the conclusion that
I did not want to be a figurative trophy hanging on the wall of a politically ambitious District
Attorney. Quite frankly the money to be gained was not worth the risk involved since I no
longer could stay beneath the public radar.
For years I had listened to family, friends, and the politically connected deliver the message
to me that I should learn to fly straight before suffering an unfortunate accident. They told me
that I was lucky to leave the exotic dancing industry unscathed--amazingly without any felony
convictions. They intimated that they thought I was wasting a good mind and a good
education (BA in English), on a career that they felt was beneath me. I was constantly told that
I had become infamous and that I had mistaken it for fame. Important people in my life were
ashamed of me and now that the lucrative rewards were no longer self evident, I decided to
make a career change. I would phase out the Gorgeous Strippers enterprise and
concentrate on becoming a upstanding member of the community.
When my family heard of my decision they were quite frankly over joyed. It was the answer
to all their prayers. I would finally become what they wanted from a son. I was going to
become a restaurateur. I was leaving nothing to chance so I decided to buy into one of the
largest franchises in the world. I decided that Subway Restaurants would be my ticket to
prosperity and most of all legitimacy. I was going to learn the ins and outs of running a
successful restaurant using the proven formula of the Subway Franchise System. I
immediately looked for an up and running restaurant to buy. I figured that since I had no
restaurant experience it was best to take over an existing, profitable, franchise and I found one
only five blocks from where I was living in the Bronx, NewYork. I talked to the owner there and
made a deal to buy his Subway restaurant contingent upon my successful completion of the
Subway Restaurant Training Program that I would have to take up at Subway World
Headquarters in Milford, Connecticut.
In order to change my life and become mainstream like the majority of American's I would
have to take out a few loans in order to help finance this dream of mine. I was approved for
$50,000 in loans from 3 different lenders. So I took the loans out and sold my life
insurance policies so that I could financially swing the purchase of a $200,000 restaurant.
Before I could make the trek to Milford, Connecticut and enroll in the Subway Restaurant
Training Program I had to pass some basic math and english tests along with giving the
owner of my proposed Subway Restaurant a sizable deposit of $30,000 toward the
purchase of his franchise. I also had to give the people who run Subway Restaurants, a
corporation called, "Doctor's Associates" $7,500 as a franchise purchasing and training
fee. With all the best intentions of changing my life in a positive way in mind, I began my
Subway Franchise operations training in early October 2007.
Everything started wonderfully for me as I made the trek to Subway Headquarters every
morning to get my education about running a Subway Franchise Restaurant. It was an all
day affair and I was doing magnificently. I had one of the highest averages among my
classmates. I was averaging 99 out of a hundred points on my tests and quizzes. I had
breezed through my in-store training--meaning I had learned to proof and bake the specialty
breads for the heros and I had learned the formulas for each particular footlong sandwiche.
I had completed 9 of the 12 days of training and I excitedly left the in-store training facility
in Wilton, Connecticut to meet up with my classmates in Milford, Connecticut to attend a
cocktail party to celebrate my classes passing of the in-store training. The event was held
at Subway World Headquarters and there was wine being served. This event was special
because Doctor's Associate's CEO Fred Deluca was in attendance. I was dressed in my
Cousin Vinny garb-just the same way I was dressed while attending the training program.
I wear a customized NFL game jersey with Cousin Vinny embroidered on the back and a pair
of designer jeans and a pair of Jordan sneakers. I am known as the "King of Bling" in
NewYork so I wear a substantial amount of gold and diamond jewelry. I look and dress
like a celebrity which is what I supposedly am according to the internet. I did not drink
alcoholic beverages at this cocktail party--although many in attendance did. I took some
pictures with me and Mr. Deluca embracing as if we were best friends. Many of my
classmates approached me (I am sure out of boredom) and told me their stories as to how
they decided to become Subway Franchisees and how they had got together the funds to
support such a business venture. I was all ears listening to the particular stories of such a
variety of people from all over the globe. Eventually a few of my classmates asked me how
I had come to this fork in the road of life. I didn't feel it would be appropriate to go into too
much detail so I decided to hand out a few of my Gorgeous Strippers business cards. You
have to understand that there is nothing offensive pictured or otherwise described on these
cards. There is a photo of my former fiance and I fully dressed on the card. I am dressed in
Cousin Vinny garb and jewelry and she is wearing jeans and a athletic top. The card reads,
"No cellulite, no sags, no prudes!" There is no nudity nor any reference to any illegal
activity printed on the card. I will reiterate that I was in a transitional period of my life at the
time and I was just beginning the process of phasing out this business for the new
opportunities that would avail themselves to me by becoming a Subway Restaurant
franchisee. Please make note that I had not passed the training program at this moment,
nor had I finalized the purchase of the Subway Restaurant franchise. In other words I still
had to make a living while completing all the Subway Restaurant ownership preparations.
I thought passing out my business card to my training program acquaintances was
harmless at the time but soon would find out otherwise. I went home after this party and
returned the next morning bright and early to finish up my last two days of prep studies
before taking the final exam on Friday.
To my absolute chagrin someone tapped me on my shoulder and told me that I had to leave
my classroom and report to Subway Headquarters. I followed my orders and walked from the
training facility across the street to the World Headquarters of Subway Restaurants. As I
entered the headquarters building I was quickly asked to enter the security office. The head
of Subway's security team sat me down and told me that I was no longer eligible to be a
franchisee. I asked him why? He told me that I had violated the code of conduct agreement
that I had signed at the beginning of the training program. I told him that I did not understand.
He said that I had passed out an offensive business card at the party the night before and
that my behavior was not what Subway Restaurants was looking for in a prospective
franchisee. I asked him if I had violated some law? Had I been arrested for something?
Was I lewd or lascivious? He said no but I had violated the code of conduct and therefore I
was automatically terminated from their training program. I protested that this was unfair,
not to mention against the law. I demanded to speak to someone in charge. He
immediately called for Subway Restaurant's second in command who arrived at the
security office shortly after. This older gentlemen told me that the rules were the rules
and that I was expelled from the program. I informed him that I had taken out loans to help
pay for this business venture and that I was going to start trouble for them if they continued
in this illegal course of action. Remember I never received any warnings and was totally
unaware as to any wrong doings that I had supposedly perpetrated. I told them that I had
plenty of political clout and that I was the media darling of the female exotic dancing industry
in NewYork. I announced that many politically powerful people had told me that I should go
legit and pursue a more mainstream line of work. I then warned them that If they continued
to discriminate against me I would have no other choice but to bring it to national attention.
I asserted that I was tired of being accused of being the bad guy--the exploiter of women
and I wanted to be known for something positive but if they were bound and determined
to not give me a fair chance; I would simply destroy them in the theatre of public opinion
by going on radio and television shows griping about their illegal and discriminatory behavior.
I told them by the time I got done with them; no one would want to be a franchisee of theirs.
I showed them a NewYork Times story on me that said that interviewers loved me and that
I was outspoken and controversial. I declared that I had been a studio guest of Bill O'Reilly,
Sean Hannitty, Judith Reagan, and Regis Philbin and that I would not hessitate to contact
them if they continued this discriminatory behavior. I forewarned that they had until 12 noon the
next day to let me know whether I was reinstated in their training program or whether I would
have to trumpet their indiscretions to the world. I then left the building with a security
officer shadowing me; making note of my every move. As I arrived at my car I told the
security man that I had left my belongings inside the training facility. Curtly I was told that I
was not allowed to go back into the training facility to get my belongings and notes since all of
those things now according to them belonged to Subway. I was also told by the head of
security that I would be informed of their decision about my fate one way or another the next
day. I shook my head in amazement that this blatant discrimination
could take place in America. As I got in my car I tried to think up some excuse to announce to
my folks as to what happened to me and my Subway dream. I was hoping that I wouldn't
be forced into starting a public relations nightmare for this organization that my late father and I
loved so much. I had actually worked at a Subway while in college and had enjoyed the
experience and my father and I had been regular patrons of this Connecticut based
franchisor since I was twelve or thirteen. This betrayal by Subway just broke my heart.
All I could think about is how they had told me before I left that I was never allowed to step
foot on the premises again. How could they get away with this? The thought of what had
just happened to me just boggled my mind.
The next morning at 10am I received a phone call from the head of security at Subway
who announced to me that cooler heads had prevailed and that I would be allowed to
continue in the training program under certain circumstances. He stated that Subway was
unaware of my media connections and thought it was best to difuse this potentially volatile
situation. To make a long story short: Subway did not want the bad press and was inclined
to compromise with me as long as certain rules were followed, most importantly that I
would not be allowed back on corporate grounds and that I could not graduate with my training
class. According to him, they (Subway) needed to save face in front of their future franchisees
and if I was allowed back in the training program after they announced my expulsion they could
be perceived as weak. My training class was not to know that I had somehow found a way
to get back into the program. I guess there just would have been too much to explain and
they (Subway) did not feel the trainees were due any explanations. I firmly believe that if I did
not have the political clout, and the television connections, I had acquired throughout the
years my reinstatement would have fallen on deaf ears. The head of security informed me that
I would now be in the hands of the district representatives office that handled the territory of the
Bronx, NewYork. I would have to pass the final exam by scoring an 80 and the test would be
administered to me off the corporate premises. I would also have to prepare for this exam
on my own. I would be able to take an open book exam like the rest of my class, the only
difference being that I would have no trained instructors to help me review or cover the
material that was taught in the classroom during my two day absence. I would essentially
have to learn those two days lessons on my own. I was also told that the company was
going to have me sign an agreement seperate from the standard franchise agreement and
that I could guarantee that it would contain something about not being able to promote
Cousin Vinny at the franchise restaurant that I was buying. As far as the particulars of this
seperate agreement were concerned--they were never made known to me. I had a general
idea of it's contents but that was the extent of my knowledge or in this case--lack of it.
I waited impatiently for a few days until Subway sent me the study guide and notebooks
they absconded from me when they illegally terminated my formal training. Later I would find
out the hard way the extent of damage caused to me by the original illegal expulsion.
Obviously they must have explained to my more fortunate classmates that Subway
Restaurant's business during the winter months depended on the weather and whether or not
the particular franchise had a decent amount of foot traffic. I was oblivious to this business
fact since I was a complete novice to the restaurant industry and was putting my fate, fortune,
and trust in the hands of those who alledgedly knew all about the ins and outs of my new
business venture, of course I am referring to the people from Subway aka Doctor's
Associates Incorporated. My abreviated training program would cost me dearly in the months
to come as I alledgedly made all the wrong moves and was basically fed to the wolves by the
people I trusted. My lack of training guaranteed my failure and that was all part of the plan for
the opportunistic and greedy managers of Doctor's Associates Incorporated. I was not the
first nor would I be the last person to fall victim to a corporation who's only goal was to
maximize profits at any expense.
After receiving my notes and study guides I did my best to figure out what pieces of
the training puzzle must have been covered during my absence. It was imperative for me
to concentrate my self studies on the topics I guessed were most probably studied by my
training class. Amazingly I took the final exam and passed with exactly an 80--the minimum
score for me to be able to proceed with the purchase of my prospective Subway Restaurant,
located at 2708 East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx, NY.. Of course I had to take the final
exam at the office of my district representative, John Musco--I was appallingly still not allowed
on the corporate grounds.
I believed that things were finally looking up for me when at last I was sitting in my lawyer's
office and I was staring across from John Musco and Mr. Singh (the owner of the franchise
I was to purchase). I paid the balance of the $190,000 owed for the restaurant and signed the
standard franchise agreement that all franchisee's must sign in order to purchase a Subway
Restaurant among other documents. Since my lawyer was present I did not
feel the need to read the particulars of each document I signed. I
figured that she (my lawyer) had gone over the entire group of papers I
was signing and she would have pointed out any indiscrepancies or
anything unusual. I believed since Subway (DAI) had made such a fuss
about the special franchise agreement that I was to sign--it must have
been included in the bundle of paper work I signed. I will reiterate I
never ever read any of these documents and had no idea as to what the
terms were or what punishments were to be suffered if any of
their unknown conditions were not met.
The closing on my restaurant continued without a hitch and all
participants shook hands in satisfaction.
The next morning in the first week of November 2007 I would open
the doors of my
Subway restaurant without the public ever knowing that a change of ownership had taken
place. The first two weeks the people from the development office assisted in the daily
operations of my franchise. I was overjoyed by their participation since I had received
such shabby training and was never even taught how to transmit our sales to the home
office. Another problem we faced was that my management team had no Subway
Restaurant experience and we stood in the background for the most part watching and
learning from the Subway vets who were brought in to assist in running the place.
Interestingly enough was the fact that my manager, Donovan Silvera learned how to
transmit the sales at the end of the week before I ever knew how; and I was the guy
who was enrolled in the corporate training program. Immediately I noticed that our sales
were not keeping up with the sales of the previous owner--Mr. Singh. Later I found out
the reason for the plummetting sales was that Singh and his family had announced to
their steady customers that they were taking over another local Subway Restaurant that was
a mere four blocks away from the one I purchased. In other words I paid too much for
this Subway considering the fact that sales figures had been inflated if you figure in the
unscrupulous nature of the Singh's stealing away a large portion of the restaurant's loyal
customers.
So now I am running a Subway Restaurant with inadequate training and it appears to
the District Manager, John Musco that the decrease in sales is my fault and not the fault
of having the old owner running a Subway franchise four blocks away. I would be lying if
I told you that I was prepared for this unsuspected loss in the restaurant's revenue. I wasn't
trained well enough nor was I wise enough to understand at the time what kind of predicament
I was involved in. All I knew is that I had a lot of monthly expenses: $4000+ rent, gold
standard insurance to the tune of $800, $6000 in employee salaries, 30% of sales food
expense ($5000), $1200 for electric and a lot of incidentals plus paying Doctor's Associates
12% of sales and last but not least attempting to pay off my $50,000 plus in installment loans; I
realized that I was very close to bankruptsy. A friend of mine quipped that I had spent over
$200,000 to guarantee myself a minimum wage job. I was quite frankly scared to death as
the reality of my business situation became permanently fixated in the frontal lobe of my brain.
A new problem immediately surfaced and that was that due to the cold weather and holidays
for the school kids revenues would become even lower. Lack of foot traffick due to the
rain and the cold weather would continue to plague all the local franchises in the Bronx during
these winter months. I thanked the lord that Subway Headquarters had so far not demanded
their royalties because I do believe that would have sunk my business enterprise at that
particular moment. It would have been the equivalent of starving your baby and never giving
it a chance to grow. Even the intollerable scrooges at DAI knew better than that. Let's not
get it confused and think that this was an error on their part; it was just a temporary stay of
execution for the upstarts. All franchisee's would have to pay up what they owed in installments
with interest as soon as the weather became more moderate. At the time I did not know any of
this and I began to panick. I decided that our prices must be too low at the franchise since we
couldn't meet our expenses. I chose to raise all our prices 50 cents across the board. When
John Musco arrived for inspection he informed me that our prices were higher than any other
restaurant in the Subway System outside of Manhattan. I told him that according to the
franchise agreement I was not bound by any coupons, promotions, or suggested price
guidelines and I believed that the price increase would temporarilly solve my revenue
problems. He said this was a big mistake but it was my choice--so I made it.
In late December I visited a famous restaurant in Manhattan called the Palm 2. This
restaurant was very upscale and it featured as it's decor 8X10 photos of all the many
celebrities that had dined there. Staring at the walls, mesmerized by all the celebrity
clientele--I had an epiphany. I knew how to solve my revenue problems at my Subway
Restaurant--I would use my celebrity to full advantage. Since 2007 I was declared an
official celebrity according to
Diggs.com on the internet. The Gannett newspapers,
including USA Today printed a feature story about me entitled, "Sex Sells and Vincent
"Cousin Vinny" Agnello Knows It". The people at Diggs called me a celebrity in the
entertainment business. I do not believe they knew that I was the former bit part actor,
Anthony Agnello, who appeared as a guest of Regis Philbin and Kathy Lee Gifford on their
show, nor did they know that I had a speaking part in Spike Lee's movie "Crooklyn" along with
making appearances on ABC's "One Life to Live", "Ryan's Hope", and CBS's "Guiding
Light". I had also been featured in Super Teen Magazine's, "Heavenly Hunks" column with
super star's like Seth Green and Danny Nucci. I had numerous photos of many celebrities
and myself during the late 1980's. I had pictures with most of the cast of "One Life to Live",
and photos of me and the stars of CBS's "As the World Turns" and "Guiding Light". I had
been a guest of both of those daytime drama's end of the year, Christmas parties. I also
had photos of myself and pop star Debbie Gibson and Nelson's grand daughter's, Ingrid
and Jennifer Rockefeller. I decided to adorn my restaurant with these pictures and
newspaper and magazine stories featuring myself and the more famous celeb's of the late
1980's. I figured that my customers would enjoy the fact that they were patronizing the
franchise of a famous person with famous friends. My instincts on this call were good as
more and more customers showed their loyalty to the celebrity Subway franchise operated
by none other than me. Customers would read the celebrity stories while waiting for their
footlongs to be made. Many asked to take a photo with the World Famous Cousin Vinny and I
eagerly obliged. The restaurant's unauthorized decor was completely non offensive and
there was no nudity what so ever. The only other unauthorized wall decoration was a framed
Journal News story from 2001 that featured Cousin Vinny and the Gorgeous Strippers Plus
entertainment agency and it's involvement in the Stripper Gate Scandal of 2001; also know as
the Horace Greeley High School Stripper Scandal. The story was meant to introduce the
world to Anthony "Cousin Vinny" Agnello. It was an up close and personal story about a
small time stripper agent caught up in a national media frenzy. Since Cousin Vinny was not
arrested over his peripheral involvement in this teenage stripper party; no one could realistically
claim it was offensive. But to John Musco, Subway Restaurant's District Manager it was
outrageous. When the wall decor came to his attention on his monthly inspections he quickly
told me that he would not have this stuff on the walls of "his restaurant". He took the pictures
down from the walls and told me they were not what Subway wanted as far as decor.
Defiantly I posted the pictures and stories back on my franchise's walls as soon as Mr.
Musco left the premises. I was convinced that this decor was the reason for the increase in
sales I experienced in January 2008. I am sure I was wrong for being so stubborn but ever
since my unfounded expulsion from training I always felt an adversarial relationship when
dealing with anybody of authority at DAI.
My willfullness would last until the end of February when Mr. Musco unexpectedly
returned to inspect my restaurant. This time he took pictures of my wall decor for evidence and
wrote me up for every violation of the standard franchise agreement that he could think of.
For the most part he was right. We were violating the rules but we were given a large chip
on our shoulders almost from the start. We were clearly the whipping boy of Mr. Musco and
DAI. Mr. Musco had the nerve to come into my restaurant and offer my friend, and manager
Donovan Silvera a job elsewhere. He made this advance right in front of me. It was
definitely a foreshadowing of the events that were coming in the near future. I didn't know it
at the time but my franchise had been selected for termination. The way things would go down
from then on kind of reminded me of that declaration by the tough gunnery sergeant in the
movie, "An Officer and a Gentlemen", when he said that, "I will do everything in my power:
fair or unfair to trip you up and expose your weaknesses as a naval aviator and as a human
being." The emphasis of the preceding example would be on using, "unfair" tactics in
achieving one's desired goal. John Musco and DAI (Subway Restaurants) wanted me out
of their organization period. They would leave no stone unturned in order to achieve their
desired result. They didn't want me in their club to begin with and now they wanted me out
more than ever.
On March 10th, 2008 DAI's legal department would attempt to remove the cancer they
considered me through legitimate and legal recourse due them through their intricate and
detailed standard franchise agreement that I signed in November of 2007. I received this
termination letter and took it one hundred percent to heart. I knew that we had broken some
of the rules and I called a staff meeting to discuss what we needed to do to remedy this
potentially disastrous legal situation. During the meeting I addressed all the irregularities
of our particular franchise and how we were going to walk a straight line from then on out.
Thank god we had sixty days to get things up to Subway's code. I immediately contacted
headquarters at Subway and made arrangements to pay all current royalties and a
percentage of back royalties. I accepted the fact that our unique decor was going to have to
come to an end since I had no intention of losing my franchise contract over it. I also decided to get
into proper uniform. My staff was properly dressed but I had been lax in following those
rules. I decided that continuing to rebel would be anti-productive and would cost me
my franchise--a price I could not afford. We were also behind on our rent and we needed to
get caught up within the ten day period allotted. We also received the threatening termination
notice about the rent on March 10th, 2008 . We had plenty of money to catch up on the rent
so that was a non issue until we received the automatic termination notice of March 11th,
2008 that made it clear to my staff and I that we were not going to get a fair shake from the
people at DAI (Subway Restaurants). Unfortunately for me I would never be given the chance
to cure any of my defaults. This fraudulent letter of automatic termination was delivered to me
by Federal Express and had to be signed for. It was dated March 11th, 2008 and it stated
that I had broken the terms of a seperate franchise agreement that I had signed with the
company. According to the letter I had repeatedly broken the terms of this seperate
franchise agreement and that my punishment was automatic termination superceding all other
termination warnings. I was through and that was that.
This automatic termination letter said that I was disenfranchised effective immediately and
that I had no recourse in the matter since I signed the agreement. In other words my $200
thousand dollar investment was down the drain. It didn't matter if I paid the rent up to date, or
if my royalties and advertising fees were current; nor whether I got into proper uniform, nor if
I took down my celebrity pictures and stories from the walls--I was doomed and permanently
expelled from their organization. My sixty day notice to comply and my ten day notice to comply
were null and void because I had according to them signed this automatic termination
agreement.
I was stunned to say the least. I was so ready to comply with the sixty and the ten day
termination notices but I would never be given that chance. All my dreams were destroyed
because of the negligence of some lawyer in DAI's legal department who neglected to find out
whether this automatic termination agreement was in effect, signed, or whether it even
existed. How a lawyer could send out such a damning letter to anyone without making sure
it was legal was incomprehensible. It was the equivalent of executing an inmate without a
legitimately signed death warrant. What kind of lawyer would make such a devastating
blunder? I guess you figured out by now that the document referred to in the automatic
termination letter of March 11th, 2008 didn't even exist. Unfortunately I wasn't aware of that
fact at that time and I immediately gave up on my plans to cure my alledged defaults figuring that
I would just be throwing good money after bad if I continued my plans to pay the back rent and
royalties; when obviously it wouldn't keep me as a Subway Restaurant franchisee. I decided that
money would be better spent on a new business venture. Since I had been terminated I knew I
couldn't stay in the location that had been sub-leased to me by Subway Realty so I needed to
promptly find a new location to set up shop as a deli/ ice cream shop. Within a week I found a
new location on the same block as my former Subway Restaurant and began to have the new
place remodeled to suit the type of businesses I would run there. By the beginning of April I
would move my Subway equipment to the new location so that I could attempt to continue to
run a food establishment in New York City with hopefully better results.
Just before I packed up and moved from the Subway Franchise location I saw John
Musco snooping around my illegally disenfranchised restaurant. I went outside to have a word
with him. The first question I asked him was about the existence of this automatic
termination agreement. I said that I didn't remember signing such an agreement and asked
him if I really did sign it? He replied, "No. You never signed it but why don't you just sell?"
In total disbelief after hearing his declarations I exclaimed, "Why? So you can make a
profit from your dishonesty? So I can take a loss over this fiasco? No way. I'll see you in court."
The facts are indisputable and that is DAI and their legal department duped me into losing
200 thousand dollars and being gainfully employed as an owner of a Subway
Restaurant for over three years. If not for their underhanded dealing I would have
remedied the violations on time and continued as a successful human being and
restauranteur. Thanks to their bogus termination letter I tried to begin my own
restaurant that I was unprepared to do and of course I failed. DAI's discriminatory
policies cost me my credit rating, my retirement money, and all the successes I had
been known for throughout my life. They single handedly destroyed me and forced
me to move back with my mother since I was no longer able to fend for myself. I am
living beneath hand to mouth and this prosperous corporation needs to pay for their
illegal trampling of my civil rights and contractual rights.