Here is the message I just sent to the owner of the store: “Hello _____. This is introusers1979. I would like to address an incident that took place today at the Stone Oak location.
First and foremost I want to say that however I feel about what occurred has no bearing on you or anyone else in the store aside from those involved – until this point you’ve been very respectful and I appreciate that.
On my first day, I was eager to help and picked up the basic tasks of the job very quickly. By my second shift I was already on par at preparing orders with everyone else in the store. Business has been very slow every time I’ve worked a shift, which is fine – although I did make it clear that I prefer to be busy and told both Rayce and Tony to please let me know if anything was needed from me. They both told me business is often slow and that in-between people are usually just sitting around waiting for an order if nothing else needed to be done. I would have preferred to have learned every task from the get-go, but I myself have trained employees in the past and I know that sometimes I would prefer to dole it out in smaller increments so that they would have time to learn without getting in the way.
I was very uncomfortable with the amount of time on my hands and the fact that no one was really jumping in to train me on anything, especially considering I’d made it clear I would like to be working. However, seeing as both Tony and Cameron were sitting around on their phones, I figured it would be alright to sit down and relax. I DID pull my hat over my eyes – which I completely understand doesn’t look good and I had absolutely no problem pulling it back up when asked – but I was still being very attentive to what was going on around me and was the first to jump and start working on orders as they came in. Regardless of what Tony may have told you, I was not just “sitting around” doing nothing. I was still completing all my duties and helping where help was needed.
Tony has had a very condescending demeanor towards me since my first day, and this coupled with the lack of much to do made me extremely uncomfortable. I know myself – I am a very efficient worker and have been highly valued at every job I’ve ever had. This job is not difficult in the slightest and the problem does not lie in my job performance. Tony came at me with a very rude tone, telling me to stop “sleeping” even though I was VERY much awake and paying close attention to what was going on in the kitchen. I told him I wasn’t sleeping, and he began arguing with me. He was right when he told you that I said “What do you want me to do?” and yes, in hindsight my tone was a bit rude. I was very caught off guard by the way he was speaking to me as I’ve never been disrespected like that at any job I’ve had. Tony proceeded to fly off the handle and complain, personally insulted me in the process, and then walked out of the kitchen to loudly complain to the rest of the staff up front. I don’t know if that’s just how things are there, but I see that as HIGHLY inappropriate. The way he spoke to me and talked down to me – from the very beginning – is unacceptable. I had been planning to reach out to him tomorrow (by text) after we had both cooled off and had time to think about the incident. However, any chance at communication completely went out the window when he brought me outside and proceeded to smugly ask me if I had a problem. His tone and demeanor were once again DRIPPING in condescension and spite, and I again was extremely shocked to witness that behavior.
I’m sorry that you’ve had to deal with this and I’m sorry this hasn’t worked out the way we’d hoped – I know I would have easily made your most efficient worker given the proper respect and training. But I absolutely do not tolerate work environments like that. I regret that my phone service is not on because I would have liked to speak to you directly from the very beginning – but regardless of any agreement or understanding we may have come to, I have no interest in working at such an environment.
Thank you for reading this, and please contact me ASAP about coming in for a check, as I am a single parent and have been without an income for three weeks. I’m sorry we didn’t get to speak together on more pleasant terms, and I wish you the best.
(Second message with proof of no service) Again, apologies for the late response – I only lost my service this morning.
I hope my input has been valuable to you and I would really appreciate it if you took my side of things into consideration, and not give Tony the benefit of the doubt simply because he has been there longer. He had a cold attitude towards me since the moment I walked in, and I noticed it immediately. He should treat new hires with less bias.”