We were all fired because the business shut down “unexpectedly”
A little bit of a rant, but also genuinely asking for advice if anyone has any.
First, I know I live in an at-will employment state. I understand employers can terminate people pretty much whenever they want. I’m not really asking if they had the legal right to fire us. I’m more trying to figure out if this whole situation is as weird as it feels.
A few months ago I started working at a very small business near my hometown. When I was hired, there were only a handful of employees. During my interview, the owner told me they really couldn’t afford to be hiring but hoped I could help “turn the place around.” He also said I would eventually be trained to run the shop so the family that owned it could step back a bit.
I was excited and jumped in. I helped with social media, promotions, customer engagement, and anything else I could. Things seemed to be going well.
Then things started getting strange.
Within a very short period of time, they hired multiple people for the same position, despite already saying the team was complete. Eventually I got moved from BOH to FOH. I didn’t mind the position change, but it came with a pretty significant pay cut since I was now relying heavily on tips.
Around the same time, I suddenly lost access to the business social media accounts. I couldn’t manage them anymore, couldn’t tag them, and eventually couldn’t even view them from my personal account. When I asked about it, the owner first said he’d look into it. A few days later, he told me to stop asking.
Then my hours got cut dramatically.
The same thing happened to the two employees hired right after me. Meanwhile, the newest hire suddenly became the only full-time employee and picked up most of the hours we lost.
Not long after that, management started openly talking about how the shop wasn’t making enough money, couldn’t afford payroll, and might have to close. At the same time, whenever any of us discussed finding other jobs, we were encouraged to stay.
One of the co-owners eventually told me that if the shop lasted another two weeks he’d be surprised. He said we should all start looking for work because we might wake up one morning to a text saying the doors were closed and we no longer had jobs.
Naturally, I went to the owner and asked about it.
He told me it wasn’t true and that I had nothing to worry about.
The very next day, I walked in and overheard him telling two of my coworkers that they needed to start looking for new jobs.
Again, when I asked about it, I was told not to worry.
A coworker later confirmed that the business was behind on rent and likely closing within a week or two. I even showed her messages from the owner insisting everything was fine because I genuinely didn’t know who to believe.
Then the next morning I arrived for work, clocked in, and was immediately pulled into a meeting with three of the owners.
I was told that after my shift, I no longer had a job because they were supposedly going to run out of supplies and close the business.
When I asked if customers should be informed, I was told no.
When I asked if regular customers should know, I was told no.
The plan was apparently to make a social media announcement on the day they officially closed.
We were even encouraged to take home excess supplies, condiments, decorations, and other items because they were shutting down.
Throughout the shift, there was almost nothing to do. I finished all of my work and eventually asked if I could leave early.
One co-owner snapped at me and yelled, “Then go the fuck home!” Then I was told to just go back up front and wait.
Later, the owner and that same co-owner came out front and asked why I was still there. They told me to get my stuff and leave.
As I walked out, I said, “Maybe I’ll see you guys around sometime.”
The owner’s response was, “Hopefully not.”
Then he locked the door behind me.
I know I’m not everyone’s favorite person. I talk a lot. I’m social. I can absolutely be annoying sometimes. But I don’t think I deserved that.
Afterward, I called one of my coworkers. She was crying because she’d had almost the exact same experience. She was also told not to come in for her next shift.
That’s when we found out something even worse.
Another FOH employee hadn’t been told anything at all. The plan was apparently to let her show up for work and find out then. When someone asked why she hadn’t been informed, the response was basically, “She’s young and lives at home. She doesn’t need to know like you guys do.”
So we called her ourselves.
The four of us started comparing stories.
That’s when everything really started falling apart.
We discovered:
The shop had run out of roughly 75% of its inventory.
Multiple employees had been told they were being trained to eventually take over operations.
The owners openly disliked some of us for personal reasons.
The newest hire had known for around two weeks that the business was supposedly closing.
Most of us were never given any advance warning despite being told we had been.
One owner believed we’d all been informed weeks earlier and reportedly got into a screaming match when she learned we hadn’t.
The business was allegedly filing for bankruptcy.
There were discussions about rebranding the business instead of closing it.
There were also discussions about simply staying open.
In other words, nobody seemed to know what was actually happening. Depending on which owner you talked to, you got a completely different explanation. Some people were told the business was definitely closing, others were told it might be rebranding, and others were told everything was fine. Even among the owners, the stories didn’t seem to match.
The FOH girl showed up for her shift the next day, hoping one of the owners would be there to explain. No luck. Doors were locked, half the signage was taken off the building, lights off, no one there. She even tried calling and texting them and has either gotten no response or been blocked by the respective owner. We’re all at an absolute loss. DoorDash still says they’re open, so they haven’t closed on there.
But am I crazy for thinking this is, well, crazy?