Roscoe's Chicken 'N Waffles Files For Bankruptcy Protection

The parent company of Roscoe's House of Chicken 'N Waffles, a south Los Angeles-based soul food restaurant chain founded in 1975, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It is unclear how the day-to-day operations of the restaurants will be affected, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The company owes over $3 million to former employee Daniel Beasley, who sued the company for discrimination and wrongful termination in 2013. The judge ordered Roscoe's to pay $3.24 million, or roughly $1.6 million from a jury verdict and $1.5 million in attorney's fees. According to Beasley, black employees were treated "worse than Hispanic employees," as they often had to work later shifts and received fewer schedule requests.

East Coast Foods estimates that the chain has debts between $10 million and $50 million, while its assets total less than $50,000.

Roscoe's fan following includes President Obama, who made an unannounced stop in 2011 when he was in town, and Snoop Dogg took Larry King and David Beckham to a Roscoe's on his reality TV show, Snoop Dogg's Father Hood.