One Olive Garden manager in Kansas at the Overland Park location had no idea about the old southern saying “you’ll attract more flies with honey than vinegar” and was completely lost on it.
The manager made the decision to go on a tirade, practically insulting anyone who might need a day off… regardless of the reason, rather than being considerate of the holiday season combined with the inflation of sickness that’s common this time of year; and even including with one employee who was told to produce a dead dog if they were using that as an excuse to miss a shift.
However, it doesn’t stop with the dead dog rant. This manager decided it was time to let the breadsticks fly. It was time to dump out all the spaghetti noodles on the table. But the manager soon realizes the consequences, as the fed-up Olive Garden manager ended up fired.
To the chagrin of the restaurant, parent company Darden fired the unnamed employee after top management read the missive and expressed outrage over its tone and intrusion on social media.
The now-fired manager wrote in part: “From now on, if you call off, you might as well go out and look for another job”
The incident happened as the full message, which Kansas City’s KCTV was able to obtain, continues after the manager raged in the memo, “If you’re sick, you need to come prove it to us. If your dog died, you need to bring him in and prove it to us.”
The manager started by saying:
“Our call offs are occurring at a staggering rate. From now on, if you call off, you might as well go out and look for another job. We are no longer tolerating ANY excuse for calling off. If you’re sick, you need to come prove it to us. If your dog died, you need to bring him in and prove it to us.”
Following COVID, particularly in the weeks before the busy holiday season, the haranguing manager was seemingly fed up over staffing shortages in the service. Noting that if a worker cites a “family emergency” as an excuse for missing work, they must provide details, as the manager even goes to threaten to snoop on the personal lives of the employees.
Implying that if the worker could not provide a satisfactory explanation, they would be fired, they wrote, “‘If you can’t say, too bad,” the demanding manager added, “If anyone calls out more than ONCE in the next 30 days, you will not have a job.”
Over a lengthy period of employment with the company, the person who gave the ultimatum continued by bragging about their own spotless attendance record, “I came in sick. I got in a wreck literally on my way to work on time, airbags went off and my car was totaled, but you know what, I made it to work, ON TIME. There are no more excuses. If you’re here to work and want to work, then work,” the manager wrote.
Even though the shift leader would much rather be at home with their husband and dog, they concluded their note by saying, “I’m dedicated to being here. As should you. No more excuses or complaints.”
“Bring your dead dog in to prove he died” is the tip of this rants iceberg pic.twitter.com/jQwZthpKTS
— Fuck You I Quit (@fuckyouiquit) December 7, 2022
However, a Darden representative told KCTV5 in a statement, said, “This message is not aligned with our company’s values,’ We can confirm we have parted ways with this manager”’
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 1.3 million job openings in the accommodation and food industry, accounting for 11% of total vacancies in the country. The restaurant industry is experiencing a staffing crisis.
And by providing benefits like bonuses, wage increases, and free meals, some restaurant owners are trying to entice old and new employees away from the convenience of remote work. However, the industry is yet to return to 2020 levels.
As tempting workers back into the workplace has proven to be an almost impossible challenge (and the awkward realization during COVID that service workers are too often expendable with less than stellar pay and benefits).
With nearly a third of restaurants being forced to reduce staff and operating hours, the crisis has only worsened as a result of inflation.
Here are some comments from folks online:
“Many people cheer this kind of mentality nowadays. They enjoy seeing minimum wage American workers being trampled, humiliated, and rendered powerless.”
“These power tripping people are unreal. Who doesn’t think twice before hitting send on something like this?”
“Huh. I’m befuddled, I figured Darden would be totally OK with this. Well, I guess bad publicity.”
“Tbf this may well be true of pretty much anywhere that serves food. Minimum wage jobs that provide zero sick days forces people to come in sick.”
Watch the video report below for more details:
Sources: Scallywagandvagabond, kctv5, NYpost
