FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing

Church's Chicken litigation history

What Church's Chicken disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document. Item 3 lists the material legal actions a franchisor must report; Item 4 covers bankruptcy. This is the franchisor's own disclosure, not a court record, and not legal advice.

Items 3 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance

What the filing discloses

Cases disclosed: 5; Item 3, as counted in the filing

Largest settlement, franchisor's own cases: None stated

Bankruptcy (Item 4): Disclosed · an officer; Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer

Filing year: 2026; Disclosures cover the prior ten years

Extracted from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document

Item 3: litigation

2 concluded franchise cases (Georgia/Mississippi 2018 termination dispute settled 2018-2019; California third-party tortious interference claim dismissed 2025) and 3 pending cases, all stemming from the 2022 termination of Royal Texas, LLC's 52-restaurant Houston franchise (breach of contract counterclaims, tortious interference claims by Royal Texas affiliates).

Item 3 (litigation) · 5 matters disclosed · 3 pending listed

Litigation cases

The franchisor and its predecessor

Pending (3)

Store Master Funding XXIX, LLC v. Triangle Capital Properties, LLC and Royal Texas, LLC (third-party complaint against Cajun Operating Company and Cajun Houston Holdings, LLC)
pending
Cajun Operating Company (Item 1: our immediate predecessor and indirect parent) · filed 2024-07-31 · United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division · 4:23-cv-01194
“Store Master Funding XXIX, LLC v. Triangle Capital Properties, LLC and Royal Texas, LLC, Case No. 4:23-cv-01194 (United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division) On July 31, 2024, Triangle filed a third-party complaint against our”Page 15 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Cajun Global, LLC, Cajun Operating Company, Cajun Realty, LLC, and Cajun Funding Corp. v. Royal Texas, LLC
pending
Brought against a franchisee · filed 2022-03-23 · Harris County, Texas District Court (removed to Texas federal court) · 2022-17350
“… Case No. 2022-17350 (Harris County, Texas District Court) (the “Texas State Action”).”Page 14 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Royal Texas, LLC v. Cajun Global, LLC, Cajun Operating, LLC and High Bluff Capital Partners, LLC
pending
Brought by a franchisee · filed 2022-03-31 · Fulton County, Georgia Superior Court · 2022CV362893
“… ¸ Case No. 2022CV362893 (Fulton County, Georgia Superior Court) (the “Georgia Action”).”Page 15 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3

Concluded (2)

Pacific Premier Bank vs. Royal Investment Holdings, LLC (third-party complaint against Cajun)
settled
Brought by a third party · filed 2024-10-25 · Los Angeles County, California Superior Court · 23LBCV01292
“Pacific Premier Bank vs. Royal Investment Holdings, LLC, Case No. 23LBCV01292 (Los Angeles County, California Superior Court) (“California Action”).”Page 14 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Cajun Global LLC, d/b/a Church’s Chicken, et al. v. Thomas & Irons, LLC, et al. (with Thomas & Irons, LLC, et al. v. Cajun Global, LLC, et al.)
settled
Brought against a franchisee · filed 2018-02-02 · N.D. Ga. (1:18-cv-00538-RWS); Chancery Court of Hinds County, Mississippi, removed to S.D. Miss. (3:18-cv-1070-DPJ-FKB) · 1:18- cv-00538-RWS
“Cajun Global LLC, d/b/a Church’s Chicken, et al. v. Thomas & Irons, LLC, et al., Case No. 1:18- cv-00538-RWS (United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division) (the “Georgia Lawsuit”).”Page 13 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3

Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.

Disclosed in the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document

Item 4: bankruptcy

Affiliate bankruptcies disclosed: (1) QCE Finance LLC/QFA Royalties and related Quiznos entities, prepackaged Chapter 11 in 2014, emerged same year, closed 2015, pre-dating Quiznos brand acquisition by HBCP; (2) Hooters of America LLC and affiliates filed Chapter 11 in March 2025, plan approved and effective October 2025 (one Cajun officer, Alisa Cleek, was a Hooters officer within 1 year of filing); (3) ARC Burger, LLC (Hardee's affiliate) filed Chapter 7 petition April 2026, ongoing. None involve the franchisor entity (Cajun Global LLC) itself.

Before you weigh a lawsuit

How to read Item 3

A franchisor must disclose pending actions and any material civil action involving the franchise relationship, plus convictions or civil judgments for fraud, unfair or deceptive practices, or franchise-law violations, going back ten years. A case the franchisor brought against a franchisee counts too. Item 3 does not include every dispute: settled claims below the materiality line and matters resolved in private arbitration can be absent.

Questions worth asking current and former franchisees, using the contact list in Item 20:

Were you, or anyone you know in the system, party to a dispute with the franchisor?
Was it resolved by settlement, arbitration or a court, and on what terms?
Has the number of disputes gone up or down since you signed?

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