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Antiwork

got fired unfairly from one of the two jobs I work, so I filed a complaint with OSHA

There was a particularly messy close at the bar kitchen I work at, it was such a busy night and we were all dead from the night and closed as best we could. One of my coworkers clocked out early before we closed which I thought was premature but considering the day we had I didn't care I let him go, I'm not his higher up and I didn't mind staying back to sweep and what not. There had been a crawfish boil that day before our shift, we were told to move the equipment for the boil inside before close which we had done. The remaining crawfish my coworker said he would take home for his family, he filled three boxes of the stuff to take home which I figured was all of it. I'm allergic to crawfish and the sheer smell makes me almost vomit so I didn't…


There was a particularly messy close at the bar kitchen I work at, it was such a busy night and we were all dead from the night and closed as best we could. One of my coworkers clocked out early before we closed which I thought was premature but considering the day we had I didn't care I let him go, I'm not his higher up and I didn't mind staying back to sweep and what not. There had been a crawfish boil that day before our shift, we were told to move the equipment for the boil inside before close which we had done. The remaining crawfish my coworker said he would take home for his family, he filled three boxes of the stuff to take home which I figured was all of it. I'm allergic to crawfish and the sheer smell makes me almost vomit so I didn't bother to check I assumed he had taken it all. Come Monday I get a text from my boss saying “I need to talk to you about your employment with us,” filled with anxiety I couldn't wait and wanted to know if I was being fired. I was fired. The reason being the close was messy and there had been crawfish leftover in the cooler which hadn't been thrown out. Of all the people who worked that night shift I am the only one getting fired. Apparently, my manager had also taken it upon herself to make the assumption that because my clock out times were early on some days that I had been skipping on closing the kitchen for some time. This is not true at all, if there is a slow day me and my coworkers start closing the kitchen early. Say we get slow aand start closing around 8:30 and I clock out at 9:20 when the kitchen closes at 9, that means I have spent a full 50 minutes closing which is completely normal. She didn't care for this, no discussion and I'm fired. Completely ruined me and I am extremely devastated for how this will affect me financially. I am going to school for my second associates of applied science in occupational safety, I graduate this summer. Being in that program I tend to look for things around my workplace just to practice identifying hazards. I have observed this old dusty fire extinguisher and I find on the tag that it hasn't been inspected once in over 2 years, they are required to be inspected monthly. I brought this to my friends attention who used to work in the same field and he laughingly said, “we don't have time for that.” Knowing this and with the news today I happily filed a complaint to OSHA, informing them of the fire extinguisher violation. When they get inspected I hope they get popped at least for $13,000. I know this is petty and I tried to keep emotions out of my report and keep it honest. I disclosed myself as a former employee and I stuck to only what I knew to be true about the violation and that I had brought to someone's attention previously. I don't mean for this to be an example, I just want to vent because I'm still extremely depressed. If you ever file an OSHA complaint it is your right as an employee but please know it is a serious endeavor that could blow back on you legally if you are found to have lied.

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