A few days ago a local restaurant I had applied for messaged me on Indeed inquiring if I was still interested in a serving position and asked me to come in for “training” at a scheduled time we agreed on.
I got there on time and was directed by the owner to shadow the head server. I did this for 3 hours, taking my own tables at some points, and had some really nice interactions with the guests and the employees.
The head server was very kind and set up a tip box for me and taught me their everyday routine, it was very apparent from all my interactions with the other employees that they were under the impression I was hired, as I also believed.
I want to make it clear that at this point I had not been asked for so much as an ID or a resume or anything to prove that I was really me. I chalked it up to the owner was still working on getting the paperwork ready and she would surely get my information by the end of the day.
Instead, 3 hours into my shift, the owner told me I could go home out of the blue. I was surprised as I was expecting to work the full shift and things had been going really well.
I asked the owner if she was sure and if she needed anything from me before I left, like the forms of identification needed to properly hire me. She said no and that she would text me details about my next shift.
Skip to the next morning where I have a message on Indeed that “unfortunately it didn’t work with you.”
So I guess my question is, if i wanted to go to the DOL for this, would I even have a case? I know there are so many points in this where I should have been more diligent and aware of what was happening, like not being asked to interview out the gate and her not asking for my info, but at no point did she say this shift was an interview itself or that I wasn’t hired, everything seemed to point to me being hired.
I know it’s hardly any money at all that they would owe me, but I feel like this is extremely unfair hiring practices and want to know what I can do about it, and if the DOL will be of any help in this situation, thank you!