Roy Rogers Operator Sues Hardee’s, CKE

The operator of 18 Roy Rogers restaurants in New York filed suit Wednesday seeking $10 million in damages against Hardee’s Food Systems, its parent company and Anaheim-based CKE Restaurants Inc.

The suit claims Hardee’s--which CKE plans to acquire from Montreal-based Imasco Ltd. in July--destroyed the Roy Rogers chain through “a series of marketing errors of epic proportions.”

Hardee’s, based in North Carolina, has had problems with Roy Rogers since it bought the chain in 1990 from Marriott Corp. Its decision in 1991 to convert more than 600 Roy Rogers restaurants into the Hardee’s format was disastrous because of strong customer loyalty to Roy Rogers fried chicken.

The suit was filed by the Riese family, which operates 130 chain restaurants in New York including Roy Rogers. Riese is suing CKE as well because the operator of Carl’s Jr. restaurants is “a successor in interest” to Hardee’s, said Larry Hutcher, Riese’s attorney.

Officials at Hardee’s declined to comment. Officials at CKE and Imasco didn’t immediately return phone calls.