I work as a restaurant server. There has been some confusion about our checks and some of them were suspiciously low. Over the past several weeks my coworkers and I have been seeking an explanation of how our tips are calculated with no answer from management. Yesterday, two servers went in to open the restaurant, they got everything ready, and then were sat down by the owner. They were given a piece of paper with a bunch of numbers on it. Told this is how tip-out works and also you're fired. When I heard about this, I texted the boss and told her I was walking out until she apologized and offered their jobs back. I got no response. One of the other servers also walked out after me.
Later that evening we get a text from one of the lower managers that we can come pick up our checks. So the four of us go together to get them. We are met outside the doors by the owners, a husband and wife pair, that tell us to stay outside while they get the checks. They bring them out and we start to talking. I ask if they are going to apologize so I can come back to work in the morning as I was scheduled to open. They just scoff like, “whatever” and start saying “you quit today”. I say that I made it clear I was walking off my shift in support of my co-workers, but that I had not quit.
At this point I pull out my phone to start an audio recording, which they do not like at all. This leads up directly to the assault. For context, we are standing outside on the sidewalk, myself, three other servers, and the owners, call them Sal and Gi.
Audio recording: https://voca.ro/1averugakeaf
Transcript:
Other Server: Because of Zach..
Gi: No, it's because of..right after..right after that came out… He's recording us
Sal: That's a felony recording..
Me: No it's not.
Sal: Get the fuck out of here.
Me: I'm a party to this conversation, I can record it in the state of Georgia. Know the law, you probably don't.
Gi: Ok the law is, one party has to know, but it doesn't matter.
Me: One party state, one party consent…You don't know the law do you?
Gi: I don't record people.
Me: Yeah, welll, I can do that, I'm free to do that.
Gi: Ok…that's fine
Me: So I gotta know, am I clocking in tomorrow or are you firing me?
Sal: You quit.
Me: No I did not.
Sal: You quit via the text message, just get the fuck…
[At this point Sal, a man about a foot taller with 100 pounds on me, shoves me to the sidewalk. I am okay, but it was a considerable force completely out of nowhere that could have easily injured me]
Everyone: Whoa!
Sal: Get the fuck out of here!
I immediately called the police to come out and report the assault. They got there and talked to both of us, did the cop thing, blah blah blah. Basically, they said that he had already told me to leave, so I was technically trespassing at that point. And, while it was an assault, the two crimes kind of “cancel out” and it's not really worth pursuing anything. Additionally, I now have a criminal trespass warning so that if I step foot on the property again, I can be arrested. So, I cut my losses and went home.
If anyone is curious, the restaurant in question is called “L on North” in Marietta, Georgia. They pride themselves on having great reviews online, it's something they are kind of obsessed with.