Employees head to protest, shut down two restaurants then get fired
Last Thursday, immigration protests popped up nationwide with demonstrations for a “Day without Immigrants.” Some took place that same day in the Coachella Valley.
Joe Funkey of Giuseppes and Smoke Tree BBQ in Palm Springs says his managers decided to keep the doors closed to go protest.
In a statement, Funkey said “On Thursday our employees came to work as usual. At 10:47 ,15 minutes before we were to open, my daughter received a phone call from our floor manager stating that they were closing two of our restaurants to participate in the immigration protest. Upon hearing this we tried calling all of our managers to discuss this, none of which would answer our calls. We chose to let go two of our kitchen managers and the floor manager..”
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In the statement Funkey also said six other employees who chose not to work that day were offered to keep their jobs. He said three decided to quit.
The lack of employees left customers to find a sign on the front door explaining that the restaurant won’t be open until 4:30 p.m.
“The protest was an important one but I also have the opinion that something needed to happen to make it so something was in place so the proprietor did not have to close the doors,” Judy Miller said.
Some people said employees should have planned out their decision.
“Immigration issues are very crucial right now and I know it weighs heavy in the minds of people but we really have to use good judgment. I think employers should be held in first place before our concerns,” Saida Schnider said.
“If they gave fair warning then I don’t think they should be fired. They should have been able to go to the protest but they have to think about their boss’s business,” Raquel Villanueva said.
We reached out to one of the former employees, he did not want to be interviewed. Funkey said he will be meeting with former managers to reassess the decision.
