‘Customers found the letters, and walked out before ordering': Employee attempts to tank boss's restaurant, hiding letters around entire restaurant, explaining why he quit

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  • 01
    Font - Posted by u/queerdo84 17 hours ago Quit my job at an upscale steakhouse...but not before making sure all the customers knew what a prick the owner was.
  • 02
    Font - This happened back in 2009, but I shared it in a comment on another sub yesterday and figured it belonged here too. I was waiting tables at an upscale steakhouse, and the company culture was absolute garbage. The owner, "Gary," was constantly throwing
  • 03
    Font - tantrums and screaming at everyone, and we all HATED him. He'd line us all up before every shift just to berate us and yell how lucky we were that he'd hired us, because we were all st it at our jobs and no one else would ever have us. Stuff like that. The only reason anyone ever stuck around was because the money was good due to
  • 04
    Font - the high ticket prices and solid customer base, as well as the fact that there weren't many other employment options for fine dining service in the area. In addition to being a massive pr ck, Gary was also a cheap ba: tard. There was this 6-foot tall dessert cooler in
  • 05
    Font - the kitchen that had a broken door, and he put off fixing it for months because he didn't want to spend the money, so it was just sort of hanging on its hinge and you had to be really careful opening it. Inevitably, during the height of a Saturday night rush, it fell completely off and hit one of the servers, hard.
  • 06
    Font - So she's laying there on the kitchen floor, bleeding from a serious-looking wound on her head, and Gary is standing over her and SCREAMING down at her: "Way to go - just BRILLIANT. What the FI CK am I supposed to do now? It's the middle of the rush, you've got a full section,
  • 07
    Font - and no one's going to be able to pick up your godda nn tables because everyone who works here is useless and incompetent! You should have been more careful!" I'd seen a lot of his sh it, but this was the hard line, and I made a decision right then that I was out. So when I
  • 08
    Font - got home that night, I typed up a letter to Gary, telling him exactly why I was quitting and leaving no detail out when it came to his tantrums, his verbal abuse, and the hazards in the workplace that he wouldn't address. I printed out 30 copies, went in early for my opening shift the following day (midafternoon - the place was only open for dinner) and hid them all over
  • 09
    Font - the restaurant where guests would find them: in the menus, under the napkins on the tables, in between paper towels in the restrooms, etc. Some were in really obscure places, so that they wouldn't be found right away and would keep popping up randomly - surprise! - allowing my legacy to live on. Then, instead of working my shift, I left before the pre- shift lineup.
  • 10
    Font - Fast forward to a couple days later, when a coworker reached out and shared with me the beautiful details of Gary's head almost exploding with rage when he found out about the letters. A couple tables read them and walked out before ordering. People in the dining room could hear him screaming from the kitchen.
  • 11
    Font - Apparently they were still finding letters weeks later, and every time one surfaced, the vein in Gary's forehead would pop out and he'd disappear into his office and slam the door. It remains one of my proudest moments, and my only regret is that I couldn't be a fly on the wall, watching this all unfold.
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    Font - Hrothgar_hrat. 16 hr. ago Wow. So many questions. • is the place still open? • how did this affect your coworkers? • did she sue for damages after being hit by the door? • has the owner been reported to the labor board, OSHA, the health department, et al? • etc. 1.1k Reply Share
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    Font - queerdo84 OP. 15 hr. ago • Yes, it's still open, but it appears to be under new ownership. • I didn't have much of a relationship with my coworkers yet, as I'd only worked there MAYBE two months before all this went down, so I never received a whole lot of follow up - I don't honestly know how my coworkers were impacted, though I did urge them to leave in the letter, knowing they'd all likely see it at some point.
  • 14
    Font - • I sure as hell hope she sued. And won big. Maybe Gary lost the restaurant in the suit and SHE now owns it! • I didn't personally report him because I was living with my ex at the time, who had a warrant out for his arrest (and was also an ak usive ass hole). He didn't want me talking to any kind of official agency for fear law enforcement would track him down. I hope someone reported him, though. 943 Reply Share
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    Font - teamhippie42 16 hr. ago I chose to believe the remaining employees are still hiding copies of this letter around the restaurant every time someone quits. 138 Reply Share JonTheArchivist +2 14 hr. ago Just change the name on the bottom of who it's from to now include each employee who quit after. 34 Reply Share ...
  • 16
    Font - Firenze42 16 hr. ago I am usually the person who preaches to leave the job with dignity, no matter how bad the circumstances... but this was F-ed up! Gary got what he deserved. You should have made more copies. 34 Reply Share
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    Organism - rTracker_rTracker +1 - 15 hr. ago Gary was unhinged (like the door) Reply Share 23 Cholera62 Lol ↑ 1 . 5 hr. ago Reply Share
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    Font - mycatsitslikeppl 1.12 hr. ago A friend of mine got injured at his serving job and it was the restaurant's fault. It ended up going to court and he got awarded $10,000. When the opposing lawyer was a di k and said "Minus the $350 he has already claimed from workman's comp, right?" The judge stared him down and said "He's now awarded $10,350, minus the $350 he has received from workman's comp." The lawyer wisely shut up after that. 120 Reply Share
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    Font - MamaAuthorAlly · 12 hr. ago I love this judge 42 Reply Share InsomniaticIntellect 10 hr. ago Lmao wow, lucky to find the one good judge. Happy for him, and I hope that restaurant went out of business shorttly after giving your friend the money they owed 10 Reply Share
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    Font - Kennabrah504 • 17 hr. ago That's on another level 210 Reply Share Masterofnone9. 14 hr. ago The staff copied more... 45 Reply Share

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