PART II — OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Occasionally, we are a defendant in litigation arising in the ordinary course of our business, including "slip and fall" accidents, employment related claims, claims related to our service of alcohol, and claims from guests or employees alleging illness, injury or food quality, health or operational concerns. None of these types of litigation, most of which are covered by insurance, has had a material adverse effect on us during the periods covered by this report and, as of the date of this report, we are not party to any litigation that we believe could have a material adverse effect on our business.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Information regarding risk factors appears in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, under the heading "Special Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements" and in the Form 10-K Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors.
The following risk factor is in addition to our risk factors for the year ended December 31, 2019 that could affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations. Careful consideration should be given to the risks described below. If any of the risks and uncertainties described below actually occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations, and the trading price of our common stock could be materially and adversely affected.
The novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic has disrupted and is expected to continue to disrupt our business, which has and could continue to materially affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations, for an extended period of time.
On March 13, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic (the "pandemic") was declared a National Public Health Emergency. Shortly after the national emergency declaration, state and local officials began placing restrictions on restaurants, some of which allowed To-Go or curbside service only, while others limited capacity in the dining room. By March 31, 2020, the last day of our Q1 2020 fiscal quarter, all of our domestic company and franchise restaurants were under state or local order which only allowed for To-Go or curbside service. Beginning in early May 2020, state and local guidelines began to allow dining rooms to re-open, typically at a limited capacity. By September 29, 2020, the last day of our Q3 2020 fiscal quarter, nearly all of our company-owned restaurants had re-opened their dining rooms under various limited capacity restrictions.
We continue to monitor state and local plans as they move along their phased approach to allow restaurants to re-open at full capacity. We have developed a hybrid operating model that accommodates our limited capacity dining rooms together with enhanced To-Go, which includes a curbside and/or drive-up operating model, as permitted by local guidelines. This includes design changes to our building to better accommodate the increased To-Go sales and the expansion of outdoor seating areas where allowed. We also have installed booth partitions in all of our restaurants as an added safety measure for our guests. In addition, we have increased our already strict sanitation requirements, are conducting daily health and temperature checks for all employees before they begin their shift and are requiring personal protective equipment to be worn by all restaurant employees at all times. As we work through the various limited capacity phases at each of our locations, the safety of our employees and guests remains our top priority.
As a result of the temporary dining room closures and the subsequent limited capacity restrictions for in-person dining, we have experienced a significant decrease in traffic which has impacted our operating results. While nearly all of our dining rooms have re-opened, a significant portion continue to operate under capacity restrictions that severely limit the number of guests we can serve. In addition, while we have seen significant sales growth in our To-Go program, even with dining rooms re-opened, we currently do not expect these sales will generate a similar profit margin and cash flows to our normal operating model. We expect our operating results to continue to be impacted until at least such time that state and local restrictions are lifted, and our dining rooms can re-open at full capacity. We cannot predict how long the pandemic will last, how long it will take until all state and local restrictions will be lifted, or if dining rooms will be required to close again in whole or in part in areas severely impacted by the pandemic. In addition, we cannot predict the overall impact on the economy or consumer spending habits.