Distress in the fast-food restaurant industry continues as Coral Springs, Fla., fast-food restaurant franchisee Starboard Group on Nov. 14 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to reorganize its 73 Wendy’s  (WEN)  restaurants.

Starboard Group also operates 22 CiCi’s Pizza, 15 Subway, six McAlister Deli and 5 Fuzzy’s Taco Shops across Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Louisiana, Wisconsin and Texas, which are not included in the bankruptcy filings.

“Placing the Wendy’s division in a Chapter 11 reorganization is the wisest decision we could have made in order to save jobs, strengthen the company and our partners for the future,” SBG CEO Andrew Levy said in a statement reported by Restaurant Business.

Levy cited a combination of post-Covid consumer habits, increasing costs of doing business and significantly higher interest rates for forcing the company to file bankruptcy.

Starboard Group filed no fewer than 10 Chapter 11 petitions for entities with names such as SBG Burger Opco, Starboard with Cheese, Starboard Group of Tampa and Starboard Group of Alabama. The company will likely file a motion for joint administration of the cases.

Starboard operated 101 Wendy’s in June 2020, according to QSR, when a former employee filed a lawsuit under Florida’s Private Whistle Blowers Act seeking $1 million in damages alleging sexual harassment by company leadership and accusing the company of directing the worker to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program during the Covid pandemic. The case is still pending in Broward County (Fla.) Circuit Courts.

Distress in the fast-food restaurant industry continues as Coral Springs, Fla., fast-food restaurant franchisee Starboard Group on Nov. 14 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to reorganize its 73 Wendy’s  (WEN)  restaurants.