Florida Restaurant Owner Fires Entire Staff via Text Message

[steve2470]

http://gawker.com/florida-restaurant-owner-fires-entire-staff-via-text-me-782324807



While most Americans were out drinking, barbecuing, and setting off fireworks on July Fourth, more than a dozen employees at an Italian restaurant in Florida were finding out they'd all been fired, via a text message from their boss.

Gregory Kennedy, the owner of Barducci's Italian Bistro in Orlando, decided, for reasons that still aren't clear, to close down his restaurant earlier this month. But instead of holding an all-staff meeting, he sent the following text message to his employees on their day off: "I unfortunately need to inform you that I have been forced to close Barducci's effective immediately."

The texts, as you might expect, didn't go over well with employees, who still haven't received their final paychecks. “I think it's despicable. I think it's cowardice,” Jodi Jackson, a cook who worked at the restaurant for over two years, told WFTV. “I think we all deserve our compensation for money he's already made from us.”

Kennedy refused to answer or return calls from WFTV, though he did eventually reply to the station...via text of course.

[Berlum]

1. There must be 50 ways to fire your proles

nt

[burnodo]

2. No wonder this guys business failed

[djean111]

3. Comments are interesting.

Basically, the issue is final paychecks. Most people would rather not travel to work and then find out they have no job.
Fine line, but I don't consider losing a job because a business closed being "fired".
I suppose this will set off another round of Fuck Florida posts. Sigh. The silver lining to that is that I won't accidentally encounter people carrying broad brushes and knee-jerk reactions.

[pinboy3niner]

4. Update:

Update 7/12/2013 4:47PM (The rest of the text read: Despite my efforts there were circumstances that I was not able to address. I wish you all the best and sincerely thank you for everything you have done. Any final payroll checks will be addressed after the accounting has been finalized.

...

Sometimes employers deliver bad news via email or text so as to avoid an emotional confrontation. It's not clear why Kennedy did, however. AOL Jobs tried to reach Kennedy through the restaurant Facebook page but has not heard back. When WFTV contacted Kennedy, he responded to them via a text message, too. It read:

Unfortunately, businesses are forced to close across Orlando every day, especially in the restaurant sector. I am working to resolve issues including final paychecks as quickly as possible.

...

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/07/12/barducci-fired-by-text-restaurant/

[ProdigalJunkMail]

5. another shitty headline

unless you want to add that he fired himself as well... the restaurant went out of business. it's not like he was having a laugh and just fired them all or did it because he was a jerk.

of course, what do you expect from gawker? they are simply driving pageviews with this kind of shit.

sP

[steve2470]

7. it is a bad headline

The headline from the local news outlet isn't much better: Restaurant workers say they were fired by text.

Granted, if I was him, I would have done it in person and faced the unhappiness.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

10. it would have been better to handle it face to face

probably knew he was going under for a while... but i understand the desire to do it this way. some people do not react well... at all. there was a gentleman (loosely referred to as gentleman) who was recently fired from a decent paying job at a tech company where i worked. even WITH security escorting him from the building, he managed to pretty much trash his desk and LOUDLY interrupt the office for about 10 minutes... several people were afraid he would come back to the office and hurt people.

sP

[badtoworse]

6. A real class act.

[BradinSC]

8. It beats the way many close

Many restaraunts don't even go to that much trouble. The way many find out is showing up and finding a chain on the door and a note that reads closed.

[quaker bill]

9. been there

[ProdigalJunkMail]

11. yep... lived that one... n/t

[RevStPatrick]

14. Me too...

Showed up to work one day, and the place was empty.

[djean111]

12. I worked in IT.

Over the years, I have been told that if I came back after lunch and my password didn't work, I didn't have a job, if I was scheduled for a meeting with my manager, I didn't have a job. Fireman's Mutual once pulled all of their IT people into a meeting, and told them that after the meeting, whoever had a password did not work had been let go. I have been in a meeting where a shiny new woman VP told us that our giant telecommunications company was having a hard time (bullshit), and they were just tightening their belt like any family would. I got in trouble for saying I didn't think families got rid of some children and then had more later when things got better.
In some of these cases (I managed to keep my job), an email or text would have been less stressful.

[FSogol]

13. My wife worked for a firm that called everyone into a meeting room & announced there would be

no more layoffs. When people went back to their desks after the meeting, 100 people had a pink slip sitting on their desk.