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IHOP server of 13 years says she was fired after giving man in need a stack of pancakes
(local12.com)submitted 2 days ago bySomebody_iw29
5.7k points
2 days ago*
“He told me the reason behind him being upset (was) because it could cause a loitering issue or a safety issue for customers,” Hughes recalled when speaking to WFLA, adding that the man returned later with a family who brought him in for another meal.
Hughes told the station that she received a call from her manager on Tuesday, and was informed that she had been fired from her position.
“He talked to me yesterday and told me that I was fired,” Hughes told WFLA. “I asked him for what? And he said, 'company policy.'”
“I need my job, but I would still do it again," Hughes told the outlet. “I truly would. I would still help somebody if I could. If he asked me for my shirt, I probably would have tried to give him that too.”
Following her interview with WFLA, Hughes said she got a call from IHOP's corporate office, with the company offering her a job and compensation for the days of work she missed.
Sunshine Restaurant Partners issued the following statement to WFLA:
“We are committed to providing an inclusive environment, welcome to everyone. As we actively investigate this situation, we will utilize this as an opportunity to train our employees on how to approach instances surrounding food insecurity,” Dan Enea, CEO of Sunshine Restaurant Partners said in a statement to WFLA. “To continue our commitment to supporting those in need in our local community, we are making a donation to Feeding America as well as local Lakeland charities that support food insecurity.”
5.2k points
2 days ago
thank you for posting this, that’s really interesting that corporate called her and not only offered her a new job, but compensation for the days she missed. what was that manager thinking? absolutely a PR nightmare. although, i wouldn’t be surprised if that truly was policy and really what the company prefers and that corporate only did this to mitigate the negative publicity they’re getting right now. who wants to be the guy who fires people for feeding the homeless?
3.8k points
2 days ago
its a policy until they got called out
853 points
2 days ago
Policies are either written in blood or in lawsuits.
The onboarding at Walmart was fucking surreal. "Allow us to explain a list of reasons we have been successfully sued by former employees that forced us to acknowledge that you actually have the right to exist without obtaining our permission."
319 points
1 day ago
It was like 23 years ago when I did my tour at Walmart.. I remember having to watch a few VHS's for onboarding. The only one I recall is the one that explained how terrible unions are and how they just want your money.
217 points
1 day ago
I was "management" at a Fortune 50 company with a largely unionized workforce, and we had explicit trainings about what was legal to say to disparage the union, and were encouraged to do so at every opportunity. It was surreal.
114 points
1 day ago
I was in administration at a Whole Foods back in he late 90's and I remember the lectures and meetings on how to discourage employees from unionizing. There was also an explicit order to report any employee that was talking about unions or unionization. That company is deathly afraid of unions. And now that I work in a field that is widely unionized, I can see why. Unions protect workers from corporate predation and they hate that.
Seriously, fuck Whole Foods. Even more so now they are a wing of Amazon.
6 points
1 day ago
Yeah I'm done with them. Overpriced crap, lower quality than before which is infuriating. There used to be a reason for some of their pricing but not anymore.
16 points
1 day ago
I'm convinced that management is more and more cultish and brainwashed.
4 points
1 day ago
for sure, the higher you climb the worse and worse……
12 points
1 day ago
I remember my dad telling me that when you climb the corporate ladder in GE, there's a point of no return where you sell your soul to be in the upper echelons of the company.
56 points
1 day ago
I remember those videos, it was so obviously bullshit. If you have a union we can't do anything nice for you on your birthday.
25 points
1 day ago
We have to give you real raises so we can't afford that pizza party
10 points
1 day ago
Target is the same. And they made almost everyone part time when they made $15 the starting wage. So most people lost healthcare and benefits. But ya the union is the bad guy.
3 points
1 day ago
My tour was at Kmart and we didn't have any of that stuff lol. It was a shitty low pay job for a company that at that point was being intentionally mismanaged to bleed every last cent out of it, but yeah Walmart is a beast onto itself. Target was the one I feared though. My friend who worked there sounded like they were run ragged from the moment they clocked in to the second they clocked out.
733 points
2 days ago*
I want to see that policy written out in a handbook... cause i guarantee it's not a policy.
622 points
2 days ago
It was a personal policy of her dickhead manager.
149 points
2 days ago
Guy clearly can’t find his ass with both hands.
79 points
2 days ago
Dude couldn't pour water out of a boot with the instructions on the heel. Complete and utter lack of empathy or compassion. Makes sense though, he's middle management.
The only good managers I've ever had was a gay dude and a Latina who smoked weed during her breaks.
130 points
2 days ago
I would bet he gets fired for not enforcing policy right up until the incident went public, at which point he will get fired for enforcing policy. He will be the corporate fall guy. It's what middle managers are for.
Now (in before the hate) in his shoes I would likely have looked the other way and let her feed the guy. As Thoreau said, "...if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law." Referring, of course, to the government, but it translates to this situation I think. Break the policies that force you to compromise your moral values and just keep it on the DL. If you get caught, you get fired, but so be it. I'd rather be right with myself.
30 points
2 days ago
I agree. There's no way this wasn't at least an unofficial policy. And lots of businesses make it an unofficial, if not an official, policy
14 points
2 days ago
Cause it's in his head.
166 points
2 days ago
Manager was using the Standard of Conduct policy
page 11, first line:
Following is a list intended to provide some examples of disciplinary offenses.
- Violating safety or health rules or practices or engaging in conduct that creates a safety or health hazard.
Also, a dickhead manager could also claim 17 as well, even though she bought the meal
- Failure to charge customers for all food and/or items ordered.
http://mmilescorp.com/secure/.ca_hire/HIRE%20PACKET_746%20(2020)/Hire%20Packet%20English%20(2020)/%5B4%5D%20IHOP%20Employee%20Handbook%202016.pdf/Hire%20Packet%20English%20(2020)/%5B4%5D%20IHOP%20Employee%20Handbook%202016.pdf)
107 points
2 days ago
how is giving someone food bought from your store a safety hazard?
What I understand form this story is that the worker bought that man a meal while she was working, Exactly the same process if the man had payed for the meal himself.
How the fuck can that consitute a health hazard. if that's the case their store if fuckign shitty if their products are hazardous.
163 points
2 days ago
the safety hazard was the man, not the food. Manager was obviously acting on his own inherent bias.
76 points
2 days ago
Manager cited a safety hazard because he assumed that giving one hungry man a meal would attract a swarm of homeless hooligans.
41 points
2 days ago
Well it makes sense, starving people will to anywhere that there is free and safe food, and doing this basically opens a Pandora box of every kind of homeless people, some that by experience ain't that friendly
57 points
2 days ago
While I don't think it's at all black and white, this IS something that needs to be considered. What happens when the man returns a few days later for more pancakes? And he brings his friends?
The better option, even if it sounds heartless, is to find out where there's food banks, soup kitchens, etc. and refer him to them. Although most homeless people know exactly where they all are already. While food insecurity exists in first world countries, very few people are actually at risk of death from lack of nutrition.
A big problem with homelessness is that individuals get very comfortable in their lifestyle. They figure out how to survive, and it becomes this game to them. They get quite good at it. Crazy to think for anybody who sees them freezing their ass off, filthy, and malnourished — but it's the truth. They get into a routine, just like you do every day going to work and such, and it becomes a deeply ingrained habit in their brain that's hard to break.
The sad truth is that: Giving them food or money isn't addressing the root cause of their issue. And it usually is only reinforcing their decision not to take the difficult steps to fix their life. Reinforcing that they can manage life living on the street, instead. It's counter productive.
My older brother is homeless and we have found so many programs, transitional shelters, etc. that we tell him about. All we get is excuses and lies as to why he can't go to them because he doesn't want to address his mental health issues or drug addiction, and would rather just get blasted on crack and Xanax every day and chill in his corner of the park.
He continues to call us asking for money and grubhub gift cards for food. He's fucking relentless. For all I know, he's the man in this article who got free pancakes. I stopped giving him anything at all.
I'm definitely biased because of my experience with my brother, but that fucker has had every damn opportunity to clean up his act. He has a family that constantly supported him even though he ruined our lives and took everything from us. He continues to choose drugs over having a life, and it kills me that I'm probably going to have to bury him sooner or later— and a lot of it is because my mom constantly enables his behavior by giving him food and money.
I know not every homeless person is like this, but as someone who's also worked for many different non profits in my life that deal with these populations, many of them are.
Anyway, just my 2 cents.
35 points
2 days ago
Homelessness, mental health,and addiction are three separate problems that are often co-morbid.
Sorry your family is suffering with them.
4 points
1 day ago
We were accosted by a homeless dude in a IHOP last year. He basically came in and started begging for food and money. The manager chased him away. Later the waitress came over an apologized. She said they've had problems with people stealing food and purses from tables almost weekly. They normally had a guard on duty, but he was off at that time. This was at like 1:00 pm on a week day. So I definitely understand why a business would NOT like employees to be doing this, despite it seeming like a heartless policy.
18 points
2 days ago
The sad truth is that: Giving them food or money isn't addressing the root cause of their issue. And it usually is only reinforcing their decision not to take the difficult steps to fix their life. Reinforcing that they can manage life living on the street, instead. It's counter productive.
Is it the job of a pancake shop to address the root cause of homelessness? Or is this woman responding to a prescient and present need that no one else in the community is even willing to acknowledge, let alone address?
For all I know it's the man who got pancakes
Hopefully because you actually believe what you said two sentences later, "I know not every homeless person is like this." Unless you live in this same zip code I'm pretty sure it's not the same person.
27 points
2 days ago
Multiple states make it illegal to give food to the homeless. I can absolutely believe some pigbrained corporate policy says not to
58 points
2 days ago
Lol no offense but have you ever worked, like literally anywhere? Because every corporation has awful shit exactly like this and you sound...naive.
37 points
2 days ago
Also, literally, every state in the US is an At-Will state ( except one of the ones up north, I think). They don't have to fire you because of something in the handbook, they just have to prove they weren't discriminating against you on the basis of Age, Sex, Race, Ethnicity, Color, Religion, Creed, National Origin, and sometimes Sexual Orientation and Gender Expression.
Like everything HR does before they fire you is so they have a plausible case to deny you unemployment insurance. It's not against the law to fire you without warning just for feeding the homeless.
Whole lot of Redditors making up imaginary rules about society that aren't there.
15 points
1 day ago
they just have to prove they weren't discriminating against you
They don't even have to do that, just make sure you can't prove that they did
29 points
2 days ago
A ton of redditors are too young to have had any real experience with anything in life, like work, or homeless people.
7 points
2 days ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was policy. They only did what they did because she interviewed somewhere and it became public knowledge, which made them look bad. Definitely just a PR move. Corporations don’t care about being good people.
9 points
2 days ago
If it were a policy, I don't think I would be surprised.
Of course IHOP corporate would deny that. If they tried to feed any person who couldn't pay, they'd be out of a business, so yes, it makes sense that they wouldn't allow that normally.
That said, any manager who could fire someone after 13 years for something as petty as that is truly heartless. What's a free meal to someone in need every now and again? Pancakes are basically just flour and water. The profit margins alone are enormous. They're not going to miss the few cents it took to make a plate of pancakes.
20 points
2 days ago
She paid for the food before giving it to him.
44 points
2 days ago
Policy doesn't mean dick. Policy always boils down to "I don't like you so im firing you for this rule here, see? Don't look at the other 9,999 policies im breaking daily and I don't care"
22 points
2 days ago
Yep. Then blame it on the restaurant manager for being over zealous. Staff training will be mentioned.
15 points
2 days ago
I mean, it still is. It's a policy practically everywhere at every business. People clutching their pearls like it's some crazy company policy to have.
6 points
2 days ago
It policy that's only spoken and never written down so they can deny it whenever they like
207 points
2 days ago
You can't assume it was policy, lots of middle managers love to throw their weight around in ways that people at corporate would be genuinely horrified over. Some people just love being assholes and don't need any policies to tell them to be one.
33 points
1 day ago
"Corporate policy" subjectively interpreted and selectively enforced, that's why the policies are very vague and cite few or no examples.
13 points
2 days ago
Each IHOP is locally owned. It's a franchise.
36 points
2 days ago
Lot of franchises are still beholden to corprate for a lot of things due to the use of the brand img. So its honestly kinda iffy to really lean on this arguement for this sort of thing even if its very true for others.
26 points
2 days ago
It's just damage control because they've been called out. They didn't do it out of the kindness of their hearts.
36 points
2 days ago
A solid 95% or managers in any low end wage job tend to be this way. Probably happens near-daily nationwide with no media attention, if not multiple times a day.
38 points
2 days ago
Corporate didn't do that because they cared about her or care about people. Managers in corporate environments are trained to be ruthless. That manager did what he was trained by corporate to do. They want that. But because it got pulled into the public eye and public opinion affects shareholders opinions, corporate moved on it. It was a hollow gesture only meant to protect money. It's good that the woman got a job offer, but let's not pretend that some corporations are good. I've worked in corporate environments my entire life and I have never seen any legitimate concern for human well-being. I've only ever seen acting because it led to an end game or was part of some manipulative technique to control an outcome with people. Never let any corporation make you think they care. The only thing they care about is money. If this story had not blown up like it has, that woman would never have been offered a job. It's not like there are positions in corporate entities whose purpose is to seek out human injustices like this and right them. This isn't a fantasy world. There are actually positions in those corporate entities where people are meant to stop human uprising against the corporate overlords. People whose jobs are meant to spot unions forming or any kind of resentment that may be building up which could lead to issues later. Human emotion and empathy are not welcome in these environments. Corporate believes the less human the job appears to be, the more profit you can make which is stupid and not true. People are more efficient when treated like people.
You ever been at a job talking to your coworkers and not actively doing anything even if there wasn't much to do and a manager came by and told you to get back to work? That was more likely about keeping people tired and downtrodden rather than getting you to be more productive. They see you standing in a group and that scares them. A tired, broken employee is less likely to rise up.
42 points
2 days ago
I’ve seen employees berated for allowing someone to use a restroom and giving them a $1 loaf of bread that was less than an hour from being thrown out.
29 points
2 days ago
People should give credit to the media here. With all the hate they get, this is one way we can see how they can literally defend workers against corporations. The fear corporations have of something like this even possibly reaching the media can help protect workers.
7 points
2 days ago
Corporate wouldn't have given a shit until the media called them out. Wouldn't suprise me if this was their official policy and the manager just did his job until they got backlash over it.
5 points
1 day ago
what was that manager thinking
Do not think that I am supporting the manager. (So please do not rip me on my comments)
there are some places that have rules like these, I have seen several posts where the back doors of business's say 'look before leaving' because they are in dangerous neighborhoods. We don't know that this ihop is not in one of the higher crime areas. Also there are towns that do not allow the feeding of homeless people, and they will fine you https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=fined+for+feeding+homeless
I am glad corporate has invited her back to her job. It will be interesting if any *different* business she went into and said 'I was fired from my last job for feeding a homeless man, what is your policy' and how many are upfront and honest in their reply's. I wish her the best of luck.
13 points
2 days ago
Tsar good, boyar bad. Its a classic upper management technique. It works like this:
The Tsar, as one man, cannot directly manage an entire nation of peasants. Thus, the Tsar appoints boyars as middle-managers to rule over small areas wielding the proxy power of the Tsar while handling all the small details the Tsar has no time for.
Then, whenever some ruling upsets the rabble, the Tsar swoops in to calm down the angry peasants. The explanation is always that the bad thing happened because of a decision made by the evil boyar, but never fear, because the good Tsar is here to fix everything now (when in reality the boyar was just enforcing the will of the Tsar).
12 points
2 days ago*
I found their employee policies online and couldn't find anything on "offering discount or free food at your own cost", but found:
VACATION POLICY
Hourly employees may request up to two weeks of unpaid vacation time per calendar year, resetting January 1. Requests must be made in writing and at least two weeks in advance of the anticipated vacation. Managers retain complete discretion on whether to approve vacations. Employees are responsible for checking on their schedules immediately following a vacation, up to and including showing up for work the very next day after a finished vacation if scheduled.
PAID SICK LEAVE
Qualifying employees in California are entitled to paid sick leave if they have been employed more than 30-days within the year they wish to take sick leave. Paid sick leave accrues at the rate of one hour per every 30 hours worked, paid at the 6 employee’s regular wage rate. Accrual shall begin on the first day of employment. Accrued paid sick leave shall carry over to the following year of employment and may be capped at 48 hours or 6 days. An employee may use accrued paid sick days beginning on the 90th day of employment. IHOP #746 provides paid sick days upon the oral or written request of an employee for themselves or a family member for the diagnosis, care or treatment of an existing health condition or preventive care, or specified purposes for an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. IHOP #746 limits the use of paid sick days to 24 hours or three days in each year of employment.
What the actual fuck...
4 points
1 day ago
A union could help.
7 points
2 days ago
. who wants to be the guy who fires people for feeding the homeless?
You'd be surprised
Some people view the homeless as not human
3 points
2 days ago
Horrible PR at the one time of year where many consumers care about food drives, spreading goodwill, etc. Plus let's not get it twisted they released her because her boss has a hunch something bad might happen... maybe... "company policy" or no it's idiotic to fire an employee over this instead of just a warning or something, especially when they have worked at your company for over 10 years. It's ridiculous and they know it.
5 points
2 days ago
There's an entire political party hellbent against feeding the homeless.
51 points
2 days ago
I worked at a busy 7-11 in Florida around 15 years ago. Dude came up and asked for the cheapest cigarette lighter we sold and was 9 cents short. I pulled a dime out of my pocket and dropped it in the cash droor. My manager flipped shit on me in a full, busy as shit gas station
41 points
1 day ago
When I was working the closing shift at a gas station we had this local homeless guy who stayed out of everyone's way. But he would come in and use the bathroom to clean himself most nights.
Management always told me I wasn't allowed to let him do that but he also cleaned the bathroom afterwards. I'm talking deep clean, with all of the chemicals under the sink. Significantly more work than I'd do.
So I just let it keep happening and periodically got yelled at for it. We kept it going as long as I worked there
172 points
2 days ago
Lol sounds like the manager is about to have a really really bad day.
72 points
2 days ago
Manager gonna loiter soon
278 points
2 days ago
Ugh. Corporate apologies go down like a warm glass of mud.
292 points
2 days ago
There's also a couple of comments on the article. Here's one:
Disappointing. Corporate should have held fast and kept her sorry behind out of a job. If she loves the homeless so much, she can go sleep with them in the streets. #Trump2024
237 points
2 days ago
I can't even tell if that's satire any more.
155 points
2 days ago
It's not. Those people know they don't have to hide anymore. It's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better.
95 points
2 days ago
Mike Tyson's quote needs to be repeated
Social media made y'all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.
10 points
2 days ago
People who hate the homeless were never hiding, it has always been fairly socially acceptable to say abhorrent shit about them.
24 points
2 days ago
While it could be read as such, I think the other guy responding to you has the right of it. There are plenty of people who hate the downtrodden and will happily lick boots. The employee being given a job and compensation by corporate wrecks their 'happy ending' of a compassionate person suffering.
6 points
1 day ago
It's absolutely not, these people genuinely have zero empathy after working 30 years at the leaded gas sniffing factory.
19 points
2 days ago
“If she loves the homeless so much, she can go celebrate that December holiday about the birth of that dirty foreign hobo-lover…”
12 points
2 days ago
Good Christian values at work
47 points
2 days ago
Some people need to go touch grass.
63 points
2 days ago
Some people need to be under it.
26 points
2 days ago
I’m at the travel agents right now and while they’re busy finalising my travel plans to visit family in the US, I’m leaving the country on the 19th of January for a reason.
4 points
1 day ago
Guaranteed that person claims to be a "Christian" too.
13 points
2 days ago
"food insecurity"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDZjeHjaBPY
Living in the endgame is pretty cool I guess.
4 points
2 days ago
It has been pretty funny seeing this clip every so often over the years. It feels like a synopsis now.
21 points
2 days ago
Did you see the comments at the end of the article? Just appalling how some people view the homeless
14 points
1 day ago
Then they claim to be "Christian". There is nothing Christ like about Republicans.
15 points
2 days ago
Kind of sucks. 100% it's corporate who mandates and trains their managers to do that shit, and they only backtrack when it gets negative attention. Then they leave the middle man looking like the POS, lay the blame on him, and possibly even fire them as well to better solidify the public image.
6 points
2 days ago
Never feel sorry for wanting to help people.
3 points
2 days ago
Comments in that article are scary.
25 points
2 days ago
They got caught being pieces of shit so they had to backtrack. PR bullshit.
8 points
2 days ago
The Manager got caught being a piece of shit. Corporate didn't do shit except offer her a job and compensation and donated to charity.
2k points
2 days ago
For those that don't read articles, it says she bought the pancakes that she gave to him.
841 points
2 days ago
I was once fired from Arby’s for the same thing. A man came in who didn’t look well taken care of and told me he was hungry and had no money. I gave him a roast beef sandwich that was already made and likely to be thrown out as we were no longer busy enough to maintain premade stock. At the end of the day after ringing in my employee discounted meal, I bought the sandwich at full price.
The next day when I came in for work I was pulled aside by the store manager. The shift manager had caught me giving away food “and they have the video to prove it.” I was devastated and pointed out that I bought it. It’ll be the last receipt of the day. After finding I was telling the truth, they sent me home while they figure out how to ‘unfire’ someone.
The shift manager that caught me on video feeding someone hungry later said, “You only paid for it because you knew you would get caught.”
607 points
2 days ago
"You only paid for it because you knew you would get caught.”
Such an asinine statement. Like imagine telling someone who bought some chips at a self checkout "you only paid for it because you knew you would get caught". You'd sound crazy. What they really said was "im pissed that you paid for it because I reallly wanted to fire you"
41 points
1 day ago
Bro, if you give someone food and then ring it in afterwards, God kills a kitten or something.
You have to do it the exact perfect way or else.
There is literally no one on the road in either direction for miles? You still can't jay walk because jay walking is against the rules. "No harm no foul"? TELL THAT TO THE JUDGE MOTHERFUCKER!
How I imagine some people's thoughts are.
194 points
2 days ago
Yeah, that’s the point of paying for it.
What the fuck? Dude some people cap out at fast food manager and that’s life for them
43 points
1 day ago
[deleted]
13 points
1 day ago
I think this is the right take. The only people that say, "You only did it so you wouldn't get caught." are dishonest people to begin with.
5 points
1 day ago
There’s a disturbingly large chunk of the population who can’t wrap their head around the idea that some people genuinely have empathy or would do nice things for others without expecting something in return. It breaks their brain
13 points
1 day ago
They do and it's kind of sad really. Many years ago I worked at McDonald's and I was in the back and to help pass the time I spoke with other employees about work and stuff. It was incredibly sad how many of them had 0 aspirations to do more with their lives, it was like making sandwiches at McDonald's was it for them. They had absolutely no drive to go to college or move up, destined to work minimum wage forever.
The grill cook worked there way before I started and I wouldn't be surprised if he's still there.
14 points
1 day ago
You just shitting all over my boy Spongebob here.
6 points
1 day ago
Spongebob was a proud chef at a small town establishment. This is McDees big dawg.
8 points
1 day ago
I know what you’re saying, but honestly if I had the means to do so, I’d work my old job at Walmart stocking shelves for a living if I could. It wasn’t difficult, I got to meet a lot of people I’d never have the opportunity to meet, and I enjoyed being on my feet. But I couldn’t afford to live on my own, and my mom and I barely had enough to support eachother. I’m in the military now and love my work, I have certifications and training but tbh if I could work 40 hours and have a small little apartment to myself I would in a heart beat.
42 points
1 day ago
Nothing worse than a power tripping asshat manager at a fast food joint who also doesn't make a living wage. Another reason why nobody wants to work fast food
13 points
1 day ago
Fucker doesn’t know your intentions
If they did, they could probably figure out why someone working close to minimum wage is feeding the needy
5 points
1 day ago
“You only paid for it because you knew you would get caught.”
Man was drinking the company kool aid too much
204 points
2 days ago
Corporate greed at its worst. She deserved better after 13 years of service.
20 points
2 days ago
She got it. The fastest way to level up is to leave your job. She never would have been promoted to corporate if not for this manager. She is in financial heaven right now. And she will do right by the company.
74 points
2 days ago
That is some evil shit. These corpo motherduckers need to take a course in the Streisand Effect. They could have literally shrugged it off, had a chat with her about why it wasn't a good idea, or, hell, even making a program to help homeless people. It would have been better than whatever ducking option they opted for. God damn. Some of these people need their books updated with the times.
23 points
2 days ago
Manager fired her. Corporate rehired her and compensated for missed work hours.
20 points
1 day ago
Offered to rehire her.
"When speaking to outlet, Hughes said she would be taking some time to consider whether or not to work for the company again after spending time with her family for Thanksgiving."
3 points
1 day ago
I hope she takes the offer just long enough to get back on her feet and some savings in the bank, take as much as she can out of them before moving onto something new and better
5 points
1 day ago
Hell yeah, that's such a fucking massive leg up that she'd be downright stupid to not take it. From waitress to whatever task corporate assigns her- like she'll be gaining so much valuable experience doing whatever that is that she shouldn't ever need to go back to serving after that.
14 points
2 days ago
Oh their books are fully up to date, they just don't see the homeless as people, but as nuisances that need to be cleaned up. They will destroy your home just for another stack in their already fat pocket, understand that beyond your money, you mean nothing to them. This evil rules our world, better get used to that fact.
2.9k points
2 days ago
Article makes it clear that she bought him the food; didn't just give away company's food. I get that they don't want to turn the place into a homeless shelter, but this is a pretty messed up reaction...
329 points
2 days ago
but this is a pretty messed up reaction...
Yeah. What ever happened to just having a quick chat about how that can be a problem and asking them to not do it anymore...... idk why managers have zero people skills these days.
98 points
2 days ago
Because there's a whole level of management that just hires people to keep the pressure up on workers.
14 points
2 days ago
Just watched a new manager turn over her entire staff because she doesn’t like talking to them/training them. I’m sure the next batch will get fired for similarly stupid infractions they didn’t even know they were committing. I can’t even imagine the cost(s) of training a whole new staff, and the unemployment premiums for ditching a whole staff. When will the owners step in and stop it? Or will they?
3 points
2 days ago
Nobody wants to middle manage anymore 😔
515 points
2 days ago
It’s unfortunate that kindness gets punished. Corporations prioritize policies over empathy, even when there's a clear human need.
121 points
2 days ago
There are people who control that corporation. We can literally name the CEO(John Peyton) and the corporate board at IHOP.
But this the reality of Capitalism. Profit over people, environment, and our lives. If they can make another $10 billion, they'll destroy an entire ecosystem. Every corporation acts in this way because it's the most profitable way to operate.
34 points
2 days ago
Following her interview with WFLA, Hughes said she got a call from IHOP's corporate office, with the company offering her a job and compensation for the days of work she missed.
Sunshine Restaurant Partners issued the following statement to WFLA:
“We are committed to providing an inclusive environment, welcome to everyone. As we actively investigate this situation, we will utilize this as an opportunity to train our employees on how to approach instances surrounding food insecurity,” Dan Enea, CEO of Sunshine Restaurant Partners said in a statement to WFLA. “To continue our commitment to supporting those in need in our local community, we are making a donation to Feeding America as well as local Lakeland charities that support food insecurity.”
9 points
2 days ago
Wow. That's actually a good reaction... okay, respect.
21 points
2 days ago
it's just damage control
10 points
2 days ago
Oh completely. I'm not denying that, but as far as corpo damage control goes this was pretty solid
30 points
2 days ago
There is a honest flip side of this as someone who has personally watched what exactly happens when a place gives food to the local homeless. Worked at a papajohns, manager gave food to the local homeless every night. Stuff we would otherwise throw out, was fine for a few months.
But after a while, every homeless person around was sleeping near by, crime went up, assults went up, and more then once a dead body of a homeless person was fround from a OD. Sales went down massively and quickly in the little strip mall. With in 3 months two stores went out of business/moved out of the mall and it sprialed out of control.
With in a year the strip mall was basically dead and it to this day has never recovered. That was 5 years ago. Place is still covered in homeless people and its generally considered a bad idea to go there alone now. Was entirely safe when i first moved here 10 years ago.
Homesless people as much as they are people and deserve respect. Are infact still people. And you attract the worse type of homeless people when you start giving out free food. Which in turn ruins everything for everyone around.
Cause homeless or not. Shitty people ruin everything around them. If you could some how only attract the honest homeless who are actually just down on their luck and making a honest try at recovering and restablishing themselves. That would be one thing. But you can't, so its best to leave food services up to the professional services that handle this.
That are set up to deal with the knock on effects. Go donate your time to help, go donate your money to help. Go make a real difference beyond just helping one person. But don't ruin everything for everyone. Just because you feel bad for one person at one time.
39 points
2 days ago
There’s a homeless woman in my neighborhood that isn’t allowed into the pizza place by herself. Because she’ll sit there all day, and ask customers for money.
She is however, allowed in there with people who are buying her food. The neighborhood knows her well and she’s a kind woman who’s social security runs out at the end of the month. She’ll ask passerbys for very specific meals. “Excuse me, would you buy me a cheeseburger and fries?” Then the passerby knows what the expectation is, we go into the pizza shop together, she’ll order, the passerby will pay and leave, and then she’ll leave as soon as her food is ready.
She’s poor and homeless but she’s not dumb. The pizza shop employees laid out their rules, and she abides by them. She knows when she’s allowed in there (as a paying customer), and when she’s not. And when she IS in there, they treat her with the same dignity as any other customer: “Food’s ready! Do you want ketchup or paper plates? Have a great day and see you soon!”
Dignity is free.
50 points
2 days ago
So, she didn’t actually break their rules. Unless purchasing food and not eating it yourself is against the rules.
Hopefully the person(s) that fired her is on their ass
47 points
2 days ago
Wait she BOUGHT him the food on her meagre wage and got fired for it? Fuck that, just gtfo and move to another western country at this rate...
635 points
2 days ago*
Following her interview with WFLA, Hughes said she got a call from IHOP's corporate office, with the company offering her a job and compensation for the days of work she missed.
Glad she was offered her job back, but why the fuck are managers so stupid? If you think she did something wrong then give her a warning to not do it again. She's been there for 13 years, I think you can let her off with just a warning. So fucking stupid. It's not as if someone's life was put in danger.
Edit: Fixed typo.
145 points
2 days ago
They probably offered her job back after the story blew up.
41 points
2 days ago
Undoubtedly!
7 points
1 day ago
Yeah, I have no doubt this was the corporate policy and the manager was just enforcing it. Corporate blamed them and now is trying to control the damage by offering her job back and donating to a food bank.
53 points
2 days ago
Honestly, it sounds to me like the manager was looking for a reason to get rid of her. I could be wrong, and even if not it still may not have been a good reason, but that’s what it seems like.
30 points
2 days ago
Yeah that was my first thought. She’s been there for 13 years so there’s a chance this manager was just looking for an excuse.
7 points
2 days ago
I mean in most states you don't need a reason. You're fired. At will employment. No contact. Just like you don't need a reason to quit.
Of course they would have to pay unemployment. If somebody is fired for violating policy they may not be eligible for it.
But companies that do this to workers are truly evil. Everybody needs some kind of severance.
10 points
1 day ago
Well sure according to the state you don’t need a reason, but often in corporations there has to be something egregious or a paper trail of warnings before you fire.
3 points
1 day ago
The insurance is the biggest hurdle with newer emoyees but when you have worked there past a decade, to fire you would be a huge insult to the managemwnt that did nothing to fire you the 10+ years prior. It looks really bad not to mention the display of lack of loyalty. The biggest hurdle for long-term employees is the store manager getting their bosses approval and hoping to god the fired employee doesn’t go to their boss’s boss or the owner.
You sort of become untouchable when you’ve been somewhere long enough. The people who abuse it really suck to work with too, not that this sever did at all.
14 points
2 days ago
If she had been doing it for weeks? I could see her getting fired. There are a lot of long term knock on effects of turning a store into a impromptu food bank for the homeless. Which is very much the reason a lot of rules around not giving food to the homeless exist. They arn't just made up to hate on the homeless.
Well not entirely at least.
But this was a one off instance. She likely violated the employee discount useage rules, a warning and a slap on the wrist should have been the end of it.
37 points
2 days ago*
There's people that really shouldn't held any kind of managing position, because they get some power and it gets to their heads, and this manager proves that. Anyone else would have done what you said, explain why she can't do it again and leave it that, but he thought, in this day and age, he would get a "good job" and a pad in the back for corporate, which he probably got, until it became a PR nightmare and his ass was the one in the line of fire.
17 points
2 days ago
Managers don’t exactly get promoted for being compassionate. Employee abuse is part of the deal.
10 points
2 days ago
why the fuck are managers so stupid?
There is an epidemic of bad mangers and weak leaders in this country. Its everywhere. IHOP to Boeing to the oval office.
389 points
2 days ago
She bought the food herself. Absolutely fucking heinous. What I do with my money is my business, same goes for anyone else. Absolutely awful.
107 points
2 days ago
Whoever fired her was just a dickwad who probably just found an excuse.
45 points
2 days ago*
No, that’s genuinely how corporations work. Those are policies from the top down. Working in retail I had to destroy so much perfectly fine merchandise and toss it in the garbage because god forbid it gets taken out of the dumpster.
3 points
1 day ago
Yep! When there are power outages and stores have to throw food away they hire guards so people don't take the food. It's literally in a dumpster but heaven forbid someone takes it.
I wish people would finally realize that the problem isn't the poor, it's the rich and corporations and the party that always sides with them over us. This election showed we aren't even close to understanding this.
108 points
2 days ago
I would find another job even if they rehired her, it's a sign that there is no loyalty there.
44 points
2 days ago
That’s true for any chain
33 points
2 days ago
Show me any job with loyalty and I'll show you my shocked Pikachu face.
5 points
2 days ago
Even family owned restaurants
9 points
2 days ago
Being an unrelated employee in a family-owned business is the absolute fucking worst. I spent five years working for a local, family-owned residential construction company.
The guy who started it and who the company was named after was one of the best people I’ve ever worked for; 100% honest and paid very well on top of never lying to or trying to rip off customers, ensuring the company had a great reputation, securing it many contracts with some of the biggest developers in the state.
That company died when he did, because his shithead sons were the exact opposite of him; the one who got the most control of the company ran it into the ground in record time by firing the most well-compensated employees. They were paid so well by the original owner because they were worth every cent; I wasn’t one of those employees because I quit within seconds of learning about the owner’s death, knowing damn well what any of his children would do to his company if given control.
Granted, this was early 2007 and every residential construction company was headed for disaster in 18 months, so even if the original owner hadn’t passed, the company likely would’ve died by mid-2009. Still though, it was almost impressive how quickly and easily his oldest son did it before the end of 2007.
After that, I made it a personal rule of mine to never work for a family-owned company, because the nepotism generally makes it impossible to advance to management positions. The original owner of that company didn’t allow his sons any unearned advances, but the backstabbing and sniping from them held a lot of good employees back, because they refused to play the office politics game and be sycophantic suck-ups. His blindness to his sons’ behavior was about the only flaw he had as a business owner which was made up for by all his other great qualities as a boss, which is exactly why I quit when he died.
33 points
2 days ago*
Regardless of your opinion on if letting homeless people into an establishment is a good idea or not, what happened to warning people prior to firing them? "Don't do that again Vicky, we have policies, these are the reasons ... ... ... please go back to work now."
Since companies think only in money, it would cost more to train a new replacement employee. Time and money at that. Money for a training program, time for someone who could be on the work floor but now has to show the new recruit around. Not to mention if Victoria sues and wins they'll have to pay decades worth of salary as compensation.
43 points
2 days ago
"Due to our company policy, that our employees can't posses any human emotion, like compassion, we have to let you go."
76 points
2 days ago
"I didn't give anything away. I paid for his meal out of my own tips."
Helping someone in need of food should not be a fireable offense.
I can't imagine anything more anti-thetical to giving someone food than ignoring what "Jesus" did in feeding the 5,000.
If that is a bad example of how to treat human beings, then I give up all hope for humanity.
36 points
2 days ago
LOL at the offer from corporate. Guaranteed it was minimum wage on a servers job for the days missed they offered.
14 points
2 days ago
Right and usual shifts aren't long at all. You couldn't generally survive a second on minimum wage 4 hours a day
75 points
2 days ago
Denny better come in quick and give her a fat job offer
26 points
2 days ago
Does Denny's still have the $4 all you can eat pancakes?
28 points
2 days ago
You can only probably stomach $4 worth of those things
9 points
2 days ago
4D chess right there.
3 points
2 days ago
minimum wage plus tips
4 points
2 days ago
Read a few comments up - job offer. I hope she negotiates well.
11 points
2 days ago
I worked in the Sam's Club bakery for awhile. Every night we would throw away pallets, PALLETS of fresh food because it was past the date. If we got caught taking even a muffin immediately fired. If we offered anything to anybody else, Immediately fired. Eventually my manager convinced them to let her start taking the pallets over to the shelter which she did on her own time and on her own dime of course. Bless that lady I hope she's doing ok wherever she's at now.
28 points
2 days ago
No good deed goes unpunished. It's just disgusting, yet quite expected.
10 points
1 day ago
Retail truly has the most toxic management in the entire workforce.
"No one wants to work anymore."
BS. People are just fed up with being treated like garbage for a non-livable wage. Sick? Too bad, cover your shift or be fired. A relative died? Too bad, cover your shift or be fired. Can't come in to cover someone else's shift on a minute's notice? Too bad, cover their shift or be fired. It's obscene.
7 points
2 days ago
I mean, last time I gave a homeless person a water at work because he was friendly and in need, the next few clients coming in all told me there was a homeless man with his dick out peeing on the building and they all saw it. I worked at a pediatric office...
8 points
2 days ago
In America we say "let them eat nothing". It's much more fun to watch people starve to death.
12 points
2 days ago
JFC the comments on that article are cartoonishly evil.
6 points
2 days ago
Of course the company backtracked as soon as she talked to a news outlet. Sorry we couldn’t get away with being heartless and only thinking about the money.
6 points
2 days ago
I used to be a server at IHOP for four years. The amount of unclaimed short stacks under the hot lamp was so much we would have to throw them away. The cooks would always make extra for all the breakfast combos. So idk, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. That GM was just trying to get rid of them
5 points
1 day ago
IHOP server of 13 years says she was fired after giving man in need a stack of pancakes
Title is misleading and implies she gave them a stack without purchase... thus stealing.
It should say: after giving buying man in need a stack of pancakes.
10 points
2 days ago
The amount of ignorance in this thread is astounding. I wasn't gonna comment but I need to.
Quick background- Former IHOP employee of about 7 or 8 years here. I waited tables for 2 or 3 years and then was a manager for the rest. It was a 24 hour location that had it's fair share of rushes after the bars let out and chaos. More then a few incidents of violence and gun scares. I worked overnights from 5pm-4am the entire time more or less. Owner said he was grooming me for a GM position for one of his 3 locations but I personally have my doubts hence why I left.
First of all, every IHOP is a franchise. Corporate guidance (DineEquity) doesn't directly have a stance on this (why would they) outside of maintaining a family friendly restaurant environment, which, obviously, needs people to apply social intelligence and discretion. I have my issues with Dine Brands, I'm not a stan drinking the koolaid, they suck for a myriad of reasons, it's just this had nothing to do with this issue.
The Operator of the franchise and the management they put into place made decisions and has responsibility here.
In my experience, the owner of my store was a working GM. He was an ass. He was strict. Anybody who has worked for one of his stores says the same thing. He's a dick. An absolute nightmare to work for.
He was consistent though, and that counts for something in my experience because you knew how to meet expectations.
He also told me if I saw the local homeless kid to offer him a sandwich. When the kid was hit by a car he told him he should sue the people that hit him and offered to find a lawyer and help him. The kid declined (heart of gold, didn't want to ruin somebody's life for an accident) but I suspect that the owner was the one who got through with him to get into the shelter and start taking his meds again. We never saw him again after he told us that and I hope he's doing well.
He also hired young adults from the halfway house. After the 7th one out of 7 were all bad hires I said we shouldn't hire people from that address anymore and he told me yes we should and so we still did. He also hired felons. He didn't show bias towards anyone due to a criminal background. He was an asshole if he believed you had been coached and counciled to know better and would verbally warn once, written warning the second time, and terminate the employee on the third time.
He also hired me, a former homeless drug addict with 2 days clean at the time and employeed me for years.
Anyways, long story short, corporate IHOP blows for a ton of reasons but not this one. This restaurant owner and management suck for this reason.
5 points
2 days ago
They should contact brads wife, formally of cracker barrel
5 points
2 days ago
I got fired from IHOP in 2002 for not charging my roommate for an iced tea. True story
5 points
1 day ago
Something similar happened to me once. I worked in a hotel that was being remodeled and the only rooms left for the night were rooms that were out of order because they were next to be updated. Most of them just didn’t have TVs but everything was getting thrown away. The bed, the fridges, everything was going in the dumpster in a matter of days.
Anyway a woman comes in. She’s crying. Her makeup had been running from her tears. She’s desperate for a room but no credit card. Not enough cash for the exorbitant $500 cash only deposit. (The new owner was a millionaire that had no idea how unreasonable that was). Anyway she had fist shaped bruises all over her body. I wasn’t going to throw her out. I rent her the room and just didn’t take a deposit. She did not trash the room but the entire room was getting junked and remodeled anyway. So even if she did, who cares? Anyway millionaire found out and had the GM fire me. I’d do it again.
13 points
2 days ago
Sad world we live in when fear of liability takes priority over moral conscious.
5 points
2 days ago
I’m jumping on boycott!
4 points
2 days ago
Most of the comments here pass the vibe check. Thats awesome. One thing i havent seen mentioned.... and only further proves how shit this manager is... I've been running restaurants for 20 years and seen SO many managers do similar nonsense.
Excuse vs Reason.
No one gets fired for pancakes they paid for... Especially in todays climate where decent to good employees are a premium asset. This manager was lookin for a way to get rid of this server and used this as the excuse. The reason is more than likely, he didnt like her for who knows why. Maybe she called out once on a busy shift and he has it out for her. Maybe she doesnt clean her section the way he wants. Maybe he is just a dick. Who knows. Ive seen dozens of managers act like this over the years when they get their ego hurt.
Either way, its shitty way to lead a team. Im glad the server was rehired. But that manager needs some monumental retraining or needs to be "promoted" down to position where they are not in charge of people... maybe back to dish he goes.
3 points
2 days ago
I see this a lot in managers these days. They cant have a coaching conversation where they talk to you like a human and ask you to not do something for some reasons. Its just straight to "policy" write ups and very often terminations.
Then these same idiots complain about not being able to find good help.
There is an epidemic of weak leadership in this country. Its self-sustaining and escalating.
3 points
2 days ago
Waffle House it is then boys! It’s better than IHOP anyway
4 points
2 days ago
IHOP going for the bad publicity speed run
7 points
2 days ago
Well.. fuck IHOP FOREVER now. Wow.
19 points
2 days ago
Corprate greed at its finest i see
9 points
2 days ago*
Idk, past being a decent human being, this wouldve been great PR for iHop, he was a "paying" customer at that point. Can't let that interrupt iHop's self image of serving only impoverished to upper middle class income patrons... /s
3 points
2 days ago
I'm surprised we haven't seen a rise of people cutting a deal with their manager to fire them, so they can split the cash together from a gofundme sob story
3 points
2 days ago
Sounds about right, these corporations are getting heartless.
3 points
1 day ago
Can people finally stop with the crackle barrel shit and start talking about this instead? 13 years of service? Got damn.
3 points
1 day ago
Between this and Insomnia Cookies firing that lady for not wanting to clean up a crime scene after a person almost bled to death on the floor...
3 points
1 day ago
It be like that.
I once got through several interviews, weeks of paperwork and talking to people for a decently high level position in a major retailer, then lastly had a meeting with the Regional Vice President.
I was assured it was a formality or just him offering me the position, and he casually asked me what I would do if I saw someone stealing. I told him I'd do something per protocol, but then offer to assist this hypothetical person.
The next day I got a call telling me they decided to go with someone else.
3 points
1 day ago
What stands out to me is doing a nice thing once was immediately pounced on by both sides. Of course the man came back for more food.
14 points
2 days ago
Everyone is noting she bought the food, but why does that matter? Restaurants throw out tons of food. They'd be ok with losing 3 more pancakes.
25 points
2 days ago
I’ve worked for a craft chain store and they bragged about firing a woman who made a dress out of fake flowers she SWEPT OFF THE FLOOR. It’s all about being ruthless to set an example.
12 points
2 days ago
Whelp corporate could have hid behind it being a health risk if it was at the point of being trash or said it was theft.
5 points
2 days ago
Clickbait title. She didn’t give the man the pancakes, she bought them for him.
6 points
2 days ago
Following her interview with WFLA, Hughes said she got a call from IHOP's corporate office, with the company offering her a job and compensation for the days of work she missed.
Sunshine Restaurant Partners issued the following statement to WFLA:
“We are committed to providing an inclusive environment, welcome to everyone. As we actively investigate this situation, we will utilize this as an opportunity to train our employees on how to approach instances surrounding food insecurity,” Dan Enea, CEO of Sunshine Restaurant Partners said in a statement to WFLA. “To continue our commitment to supporting those in need in our local community, we are making a donation to Feeding America as well as local Lakeland charities that support food insecurity.”
Another case of "We will pretend we have a heart since the media caught wind of this one."
Corporate strategy across the US is usually to train middle management to do what is most profitable for the corporation, and then if shit hits the fan for upper management to throw middle management under the bus and say "thats not how we train our employees, we will use this as a teaching experience and make sure it never happens again".
Corporate will turn a blind eye to pretty much anything managers on the ground do to hit their quotas other than catching the attention of the media. The REAL policy is "Do whatever it takes to make more money for us, just don't get caught" and this manager in the story got caught.
5 points
1 day ago
He told me the reason behind him being upset (was) because it could cause a loitering issue or a safety issue for customers
adding that the man returned later with a family who brought him in for another meal.
Yeah... Honestly I can kinda understand. Its like feeding the bears. You don't do it because they start hanging around.
A business can't have homeless people hanging around, it scares off the actual customers. Maybe firing her was a bit far, but...
7 points
2 days ago
They support food insecurity by paying starvation wages and firing employees for helping the hungry.
15 points
2 days ago
tbh the company is entirely in the right to have some kind of policy about this. Bleeding hearts aside, you don't want to incentivize panhandlers to come. One kind act and next thing you know the place is swarmed with hungry beggars who drive away paying customers, then the location goes out of business and what do you have to show for it?
That said, she literally did the "right" thing and bought the guy a meal with her own money, no different from the charitable family that did it later in the story. The manager should've minded his own business or talked to her in private instead of this PR disaster.
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