East Side Mario's

I'd like to take this opportunity to review the restaurant as an employee. This is how I was treated.

In April 2008, I got a job at the Hunt Club and Merivale Road East Side Mario’s as a server. Everything was going well: everybody seemed to like me, including the owners. I was learning quickly, and the supervisor who trained me said I did a great job.

Then, on Saturday morning of the first week I worked there (April 5th, 2008), there was a mandatory staff meeting. Just as I walked through the back door to go to it, the general manager caught me and said she wanted to talk to me. I followed her into the office. Another manager was there. She then said, “We don’t need your services anymore because you had a problem with another employee.” A waitress whom I knew many years prior, happened to be working there. She told me about 3.5 years prior that she didn’t want to talk to me anymore due to a minor incident, which I duly respected, even though she accused me of something I didn't do. Then, she must have seen my name in the point of sale computer and talked to the management. The manager didn’t want to give any specifics. I did absolutely nothing wrong in the workplace, nor to her. They told me that they didn’t want conflict in the workplace between employees, and that since she had been working there longer than I was, she was going to be favored. They said that their first priority was the restaurant, and they had the right to fire an employee for anything they wanted within the first three months of work. As I walked out the door, the manager said, “Good luck to you.” I didn’t even want to look at him as I walked out and I was utterly humiliated.

I went home, looked up the waitress on Facebook and tried to reason, basically told her to grow up. The message I sent her was totally non-offensive. Later, I went to the restaurant to talk to the owner, to see if he could override the decision. He sided with the management. I argued to him that it was not my fault and wanted to tell him my side of the story, and He said, “I don’t need to hear your side of the story”. As if looking for a reason but not being able to find one, the owner said, “Well, I really didn’t want to say this, but the supervisor who trained you said that you weren’t really cut out for a big chain restaurant like this.” Like that makes any sense, considering they are (or should be) an equal opportunity employer. The supervisor in question told me, however, that I did a wonderful job and did not have any complaints. Why wouldn’t the supervisor tell me that to my face, when it’s her job to evaluate a trainee? Why would she lie to my face like that? She didn't seem like the type. The owner said he wouldn’t give up his business for anything. Obviously, money to him mattered more than his integrity. He also mentioned that the waitress told him I was ‘harassing’ her by sending her a message on Facebook.

I called head office, and got transferred to the Area Manager. The manager admitted that it was a difficult situation, and he said he would investigate. A day or two later, I called the area manager again and asked him about the results of the investigation. He seemed to change his tune and sided with the restaurant. He suggested to me that he just let it go and get a job at a different restaurant. Easy solution for them.

The owner told me that he would help me get a job at a different location. I'd like to know how he was going to do that... If he were to give me a reference, the other East Side Mario’s would probably want to know what happened and why can't I work there. Would they want to hire me? It seems like the owner said that just to get me out of his hair.
I later called the restaurant and spoke to the other owner. I asked for a meeting with the management to present my side of the story. The owner cut me off and said, rudely, “You complained about us to Prime Restaurants?” I said yes, I did.
“You keep complaining.”
“I’m sorry?” I said, shocked.
“You keep complaining, don’t come here anymore!” and slammed the phone down in my ear.

Neither the Labour Board nor the Human Rights Commission could offer me any help, because the management of the East Side Mario’s indeed did not seem to break the law. I spoke to the Vice President of Operations, and I didn’t get far there, either. I talked to the VP of operations later, and he said he'd talk to the owner. Then I tried callign him back, but all I got was his voicemail and he never returned any of my calls.

What they did was extremely unethical. They acted in bad faith and didn’t give a good worker an opportunity to prove my skills, nor a chance to present my side of the story. I got fired for no reason. Unfortunately, the law wasn’t on my side with this, but the law also can’t prevent me from using my rights to freedom of the press and exposing them for what they did, which I will. I want to make sure other people know how I got treated and that this kind of practice goes on in their restaurants. I also let the Better Business Bureau know about it: although this isn’t an issue they can readily address, it will give them a profile of the restaurant when they deal with them in the future. Hopefully, they will get enough complaints about them to reconsider listing them.

I really hope people take this to heart when considering eating or working there.