The legendary Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘n Waffles files for Bankruptcy (Los Angeles: 2015, renting)

[JohnKneedep]

Roscoe’s Chicken ‘N Waffles Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection « CBS Los Angeles

Apparently, their former employee put out the whole chain out of business.

"But new court documents show that of all the money Roscoe’s owes to various companies and people, one of the biggest debts is to Daniel Beasley of Compton.

Beasley is a former employee who sued the restaurant on Pico Boulevard for racial discrimination and won."

[West of Encino]

Sorta at a lost for words. Say it ain't so.

[jamills21]

It's Ch. 11 reorganization. Just meaning that there will be a payment plan to pay back creditors-- in this case-- the victim of the case & others. This does not mean that roscoes is shutting down.

[Cream1]

Are we supposed to feel bad for a company that discriminates?

[jm1982]

I remember reading about this last year .

Jury Awards Ex-Employee Of Roscoe’s Chicken N’ Waffles $1.6M In Race Discrimination Suit « CBS Los Angeles

" A jury has awarded a former employee of Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘n Waffles more than $1 million in damages after he sued the popular restaurant chain alleging racial discrimination and wrongful termination.

Daniel Beasley, a black man, filed a racial discrimination and wrongful-termination suit against the soul food chain that’s popular with celebrities, including Snoop Dogg and Larry King.

“It’s owned by an African American owner, but he gives full authority to the Hispanics to run it,” Beasley said."

I get that people should be compensated, but over $1million?...

These huge lawsuit settlements being dished out make a LOT of money for the attorneys..and keep things more expensive for everyone.

How much could this guy have been making working at Roscoe's? I would think $15hr would be on the high end..but even at $15 hour, that's $31,200 working full time , 40hrs a week.
A payout of $1million would be over 3 DECADES of full time work there.

If this guy was discriminated against at Roscoe, was that just it ? Now he can't work anywhere else in the world?
He's gotta be paid out enough to retire immediately?

This story is kind of interesting as I had a family member that once owned the building Gower Roscoe's was located in , and the owner didn't pay rent. I remember when I had said I ate there they mentioned , "The owner never paid his rent"

Hopefully the chain doesn't go out of business. They have several locations and a lot of employees.

[Ronaldon]

Originally Posted by jm1982

These huge lawsuit settlements being dished out make a LOT of money for the attorneys..and keep things more expensive for everyone.

Moreover, this encourages others to search for loopholes in the legal system and make a living by suing others.

But how can 1MM tip the scale for a such a known chain? I'd think this wouldn't have been a large amount for them. I was thinking more along the lines of 100MM.

[socal88]

Sad news for such a great place.

While $3.2M payout isn't chump change, that can't be the sole reason they're filing for Chapter 11. You'd think the restaurant has liability insurance that's going to pay out to at least some extent. Regardless, the parent company must be pretty cash strapped to have to file chapter 11. Perhaps business overall has been down and/or there are other outstanding debts.

At least it's just Chapter 11 and not Chapter 7, so hopefully they can restructure their debts and get back on a path toward financial sustainability and focus on doing what it does best.

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by Ronaldon

Moreover, this encourages others to search for loopholes in the legal system and make a living by suing others.

But how can 1MM tip the scale for a such a known chain? I'd think this wouldn't have been a large amount for them. I was thinking more along the lines of 100MM.

Yes , hard to say. It's well known because of celebs going there and it's history.

They only have 7 locations though. Comparing that to other chains it's tiny. Also some of the locations are pretty new and only opened more recently. As with most new businesses , those new locations might not even be profitable yet considering buildout costs of the locations,etc which are likely hundreds of thousands of dollars when you open a new place.

Of course it's a private company so we don't know their financials.
The profit margin on restaurants in general isn't that high. There are high labor costs, food costs keep going up, utility costs, the list goes on and on.

We also have no idea how the owner spends their money. You would think they would have several million since the place has been around for decades but you never know.
I know that relative that was renting to the owner mentioned he was a flamboyant guy back in the day..he could be a big spender too.
Maybe he supports a bunch of his family members too, it's hard to say.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Not to make light of this tragedy, but I have to say it's a sign of the times. Here's my take. Owner realizes he will save $$ hiring "amigos" instead of folks from the hood. Same-ol' ....

[Big-Bucks]

Originally Posted by Howiester

Are we supposed to feel bad for a company that discriminates?

Black owned business being sued by a black person.