Complaint Review: Jimmy John's

I worked for Jimmy John's in Manhattan, Kansas which is a franchised location owned by Bushwood Investments, LLC as an Assistant Manager from approximately June 2007-October 2007.  For exact information on this location or its owners, please refer to the top of this report.

Please do not patron or give your business to this location and company as they are unethical employers who practice subpar wages, substandard working conditions, shoddy management, and create a workplace environment based on fabricated lies, favortism, and offer no direction or room for advancement for ethical and honest individuals like myself.

I was hired in June 2007 after I interviwed for and was hired as the Assistant Manager of the Moro Street location in Manhattan, KS.  I was trained by the District Manager at the time Travis Floyd on my position as a manager and store operation on a delivery driver and in shop counter person's duties as well. My training lasted for about a month and then I was left to run shifts and go about my duties on my own.  During my time the store had two General Managers, Brandon Willams and David Floyd. Brandon Williams was the temporary General Manger until another GM was hired and he was moving to another location.  I would like to also point out that yes David Floyd is the brother of Travis Floyd who is the District Manager.  They are also College/HS buddies and personal friends of Matt Brane the owner and operator of the company who runs the franchise business Bushwood Investments.

During my time being employed at Jimmy John's I was supposed to be the Assistant Manager, which my duties included running the shift, supervising 3-5 delivery drivers, 1-3 inshop sandwich makers/register clerks, and doing my related duties of baking bread, slicing meats, making sandwiches, quality control, store cleanliness, counting cash, recieving truck orders, paperwork, and cleaning the store to be opened for next day's business since Asst Manager work the closing shift.

I invested at least 60 hours a week or more including having to cover Delivery Driver Shifts on my 1 of 2 supposed to be scheduled days off for a substandard salary of 400 dollars a week which was outrageous and ridiculous.  In addition to my nightly duties I also had authority as I read in the job description to be able to hire/fire/reprimand employees, do payroll, truck orders, and bank runs.

At no point ever during my time in 3 months at this location did I acutally get to perform or fulfill these job duties.  At ever turn and corner I basically was babysitting the store to make sure the cash went into the safe at the end of the night and the store was not robbed or burned down.

I was constantly told that the above mentioned duties were not my responsibility but rather the General Managers yet which the General Manager would never do and this is why I was constantly short staffed or had no staff. I recall at least a month of 2-3 nights a week where I worked a 5pm-3am shift where I had no instore staff and 1 delivery driver.  I was responsible to do everything in the store and make sure the orders were ready for a driver who was getting pushed to the limit himself with 5-6 orders at a time.  

Never was I allowed to hire personnel to fill these voids so I could run the store as I needed to, but was then reprimanded for the store not meeting expectations of cleanliness the next morning, my meat levels not to par, and for slips in sales.

I'm sorry but nowhere did I sign up in my job description to do the job of a cashier, sandwich maker, and manager all at the same time.  I don't have time to do inventory counts, remedial cleaning, and cut meats when I spend the majority of my shift at a cash register tendering change to a customer, making their sandwiches, bagging orders for the delivery driver, and then anwering the phones to writing down delivery orders.  This is where I should have been allowed to hire staff to fill these hourly positions with non-management personnel.

Also during my time as the manager, I was constantly belitted and underminded by non supvisor position staffed and by Shift Managers claiming that I was not capable of doing my job and that who was I to be an authority when they had been with the company longer than myself.

When I attempted to reprimand these invidicuals, I was met with resistance by the Genral Manager and District Manager, albeit either they were friends or brothers depending on when Brandon or Dave was there.  I was told that I didn't have the authority to reprimand these individuals or place them on disciplinary report.  And that the General Manager would handle this.  Nothing ever came about this.

I witnessed after this conversation on more than one occassion, employees time cards being doctored, not being paid overtime for coming in and working extra hours, instead being compensated with a free meal or time off later in the week, and that shift they were supposed to work was not covered.  

I was not compensated extra money for being asked to work after this conversation with management to work an extra day as just a delivery driver on my day off to cover open shifts because the General Manager wanted to save labor costs and not hire replacement staff.  Why was the assistant manager working as a delivery driver, and a hourly manager who is below me in position running the store?  Instead the hourly manager should have been running deliveries and me running the store because I don't answer to them in the chain of command.

It finally came to a head in October after having back and forths with the same female employee at least 3 shifts a week for 2 months.  Constantly I would ask this employee to do perform tasks that were reasonable and not outside of her job description and duties.  Everytime I would be met with resistance from here questioning why she would have to do it, complaining about doing it, or questioning company policy on why we did things this way or that way.

I had conversations with her on at least 6 occasions that I don't make company policies and that I don't have the authority to alter them but I am simply their to supervise the staff and ensure the store is being operated within those policies.  I encouraged her to do her duties as I asked her to and that if she had a grievance beyond that to please speak with the General Manager.  I did note to her that I would not continue to tolerate the blatant lack of respect, the rudeness to customers, or the complaining about having to perform job duties in the presence of customers.

2 weeks after the last conversation I had with her I had to work with her on a Thursday night.  This particular night she was ever more increased with a lack of respect, questioning my authority, and complainng about having to perform tasks.  Finally I told her that if she didn't like it she could find another job and to stop complaining.  She then proceeded to say "That this is bullsht and that I don't know how to be a manager" in front of customers.  I  then told her that she was fired and to leave the property immediately.  She told me that I couldn't fire her and that I didn't have the authority to do it.  I told her that as the Assistant Manager I was making the decision to send her home and as far as I was concerned she was terminated.  Any further discussion she could consult with the General Manager.  Her husband worked at the store as well and was a Delivery Driver.  

He witnessed all of this and told me that he was her ride home and that she wasn't leaving.   I told him I didn't care if he was her ride home.  She could either take the car and leave and come back and get him at the end of his shift or that he could pick her up somewhere else at the end of his shift, but she was fired and not remaining in my store or on the property.  He told me that wasn't going to happen and he was not going to continue working if she could not wait till his shift was over.  I told him that he could seek employment elsewhere if he was refusing to do his duties and comply with my requests.  He replied he was not going to continue working.  I then clocked both of them out, told them they were terminated and to leave the property immediately.  

After my shift I wrote a disciplinary report detailing both invidiuals and the incidents in question and then I wrote a termination report on both as well and I finished my paperwork and left for the night.

I returned to the store the next day at 5pm for my next scheduled shift, to find both of those former employees in the store and observed them working.  I also took notice that the District Manager Travis Floyd was in the store.   As I went to the office to punch in and put my personal belongings away, he folllowed me into the office.

He then proceeded to have a conversation with me regarding the incident from the previous night.  He told me that I went outside of my duties as a Manager by firing the two employees and that I violated their rights and company policy because it wasn't within my power to do what I did.  He then proceeded to tell me that he has also recieved reports from other employees that I was abusing my position by not doing my duties, that I was sitting at the desk in the office when I should be on the floor at all times, that I was taking breaks to eat and that I was abusing my power by belitting employees and forcing them to do tasks in a dimeaning manor. Which by the way this company has a no break or meal break policy period.  He then proceeded to tell me that I was no longer employed with the company and that he was terminating me immediately, but did not provide a direct reason other than the alleged complaints.  I was not given a chance to explain my side of anything but was asked to turn in my uniforms and store keys on the spot and leave the premises and was advised to not even return as a customer.

What kind of company employs people under a management postion but expects them not to supervise employees or empowers them with the responsiblity and duties that any other food service employer would give to a manager including the right to terminate employees or give them a disciplinary report.

I'm sorry but working 12-14 hour days for 6 days a week for 400 bucks a week salary before taxes and not being given opportunities to eat meals or have a rest period is ridiculous.

Please do not patron this business based on this story of unethical business practices and treatment of employees.  

I would also like to add that this store is located in a bar district in a college town, and that during my employment the District Manager and the General Manager would go out in uniform to the bars, get drunk, then come back in the store and expect me to make them free food and act like fools while in company uniform.  Also on several occasions they came in after consuming and under the influence of alcohol came behind the counter and start making sandwiches, answering phones, or operating the cash register.  In what city or state is being under the influence of alchohol safe for any employee or allowed under company policy.

Also when I contacted the owner Matt Brane of the company to dispute the termination of my employment, he responded only via email when I asked to speak with him over the phone or in person that my employment was terminated with good reason and that he would not speak with me further on the matter and that if I tried to file unemployment or start a wrongful termination lawsuit against them that he would come after me for legal fees for filing false information and for defimation of character.  He then proceeeded to close the email by providing his lawyer's legal information and contact info and told me that he has a very expensive attorney.

Low wages, long hours, no breaks, management drinking and then coming back to the workplace and performing duties, husband/wives working on the same shift, and brothers being in supervisor positions right above and below each other, while the owner is their best friend from high school and college.  Yeah this is a real great place to find employment or to get food from.  Sorry but I hope people that read this never go back to this store and choose to support  the following:

-Companies should never allow employees in the store while drinking or under the influence

-Companies should pay competative wages, allow for adequate training, give clear and concise duties to each position from managment down to hourly staff

-Companies that give adequate time off and rest/meal periods during a workday

-Companies that promote growth and promotion, not hiring your best friends and their family to run the place and then run the place into the ground and drive away people from employment  with families trying to make a living.

By the way I had a 18 month old son and another child on the way due in 2 months when they fired me for doing what they hired me for which is run the store and be an Assistant Manager and to support my family.

f**k Jimmy John's and Bushwood Investments for being unethical companies with no morals or standards in life or in business.