"We've disclosed all that we needed to," Laurie Ellison relayed when asked for a list of the targeted restaurants. The release did indicate that 10 of the 24 restaurants are in two New England states, but Ellison would go no further in pinpointing the locations. "We are in the process" of notifying affected workers, Ellison told GSR late Wednesday, rebuffing requests to speak with company officials about the meaning of the actions.

"They've been pretty tightlipped," acknowledges Rob Furlong. The Baltimore-based analyst at Garp Research Corp. backdates Applebee's information blackout to a review launched in February by its Strategy Committee aimed at confronting operational maladies.

Officials had been among the more forthcoming public concerns, explains Furlong, but the review exercise by its directors ushered in a wave of secrecy.