⁍ Pizza Hut and Wendy’s franchisee NPC International has obtained bankruptcy court approval to protect three executives against litigation from delivery drivers over expense reimbursement policies.
⁍ U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones in Houston issued his ruling during a video hearing on Tuesday.
⁍ NPC, the largest Pizza Hut and Wendy’s franchisee, filed for bankruptcy in July with $900 million in debt and is on the hunt for interested buyers to acquire the company’s assets.
– A bankruptcy judge has given the green light to three top Pizza Hut and Wendy’s executives to shield them from a lawsuit brought by a Pizza Hut delivery driver, reports the Wall Street Journal. The driver is suing NPC International, the franchisee for both Pizza Hut and Wendy’s, alleging that the executives under-reimbursed the drivers for driving expenses like tear gas and wear and tear. NPC filed for bankruptcy in July, and it’s now looking for buyers for its assets. The bankruptcy judge told lawyers for NPC and the drivers that he takes the drivers’ claims “very seriously,” but that he wouldn’t put the company’s reorganization or sale efforts at risk by “distracting the management team in the midst of probably the most important decision the enterprise will ever make.”
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/bankruptcy-npc-international/pizza-hut-franchisee-execs-fend-off-delivery-driver-class-action-amid-bankruptcy-idUSL1N2HB29T