As the pandemic crushed the restaurant industry, Logan’s Roadhouse workers expected fear and uncertainty—but not abandonment. CraftWorks Holdings, which also owns Old Chicago, didn’t fight to keep doors open with skeleton crews or curbside orders. Instead, it furloughed every employee and cut off their healthcare at the exact moment families needed coverage most, treating decades of loyalty as a disposable line item on a spreadsheet.

Then the scandal deepened. CEO Hazem Ouf was fired after allegedly diverting $7 million in sales tax payments without court approval, a desperate maneuver that shattered what little trust remained. Days later, the company “mothballed” all 261 locations, claiming it lacked the funds to operate at all. No phased plan, no transparent path forward—just shuttered buildings and thousands of lives upended, left to navigate a historic economic collapse entirely alone.