The judge in the Upper Crust pizza bankruptcy case on Friday delayed the purchase of four of its stores by an investment firm with ties to the chain’s founder, Jordan Tobins, to give a lawyer for former workers more time to fight his alleged involvement in the bid.

Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer for the former Upper Crust employees, had objected to the purchase, arguing that any involvement by Tobins would violate an order in a separate case in Suffolk County that bars him from transferring more than $2,500 of his assets. Judge Henry J. Boroff of US Bankruptcy Court in Springfield on Friday gave Liss-Riordan until Jan. 7 to seek a ruling on the matter from the Superior Court, according to lawyers involved in the case.