Pizza Hut Manager Says He Was Fired for Refusing to Open on Thanksgiving - Yahoo Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pizza-hut-manager-says-fired-042328900.html)

A former manager at an Elkhart, Ind., Pizza Hut trying to give his employees some time off says he was fired for refusing to open the store on Thanksgiving, local CBS affiliate WSBT is reporting.

Tony Rohr, who started out at the pizza chain as a cook before working his way up to general manager, confronted his superiors after being told the store would need to be open on Thanksgiving.

In years past, Rohr said, Pizza Hut stores have been closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to Fox 8.

"Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only two days that they're closed in the whole year and they're the only two days that those people are guaranteed to have off and spend it with their families," he told WSBT.

His bosses told him to tender his resignation, but he wrote a scathing letter instead.

"I am not quitting. I do not resign, however I accept that the refusal to comply with this greedy, immoral request means the end of my tenure with this company," Rohr wrote, according to WSBT. " ... I hope you realize that it's the people at the bottom of the totem pole that make your life possible."

The company is already seeing quite a backlash on their official Facebook page, with some commenters calling the chain "greedy" and threatening to never eat there again. The page did not respond to any of the negative comments.

One of Rohr's bosses claimed that he quit, and being open on Thanksgiving wasn't an individual's decision — it was a company decision, according to WSBT.

Back in the day, when I was a far younger man, I did a stint in a few different Pizza Huts owned by a franchise based in Tulsa.
We were open part or all of every holiday. If memory serves correctly:

We closed somewhat earlier than the norm on Thanksgiving eve, and reopened on Thanksgiving night at 5:00.
We closed about 6 on Christmas eve, and reopened on Christmas night at 5:00.
We closed about 10 or so on NYE, and reopened on New Years night at 5:00.
Other holidays we ran regular hours for the season.

Not recalling every sitting around an empty house wondering why oh why we were open. The vast majority of us were unmarried and of the few married folks, most were still childless. Nearly all of us had kin in the area though. We worked around schedules, welcomed in those who were either tired of holiday fare or tired of their own kin, or both. Never had trouble getting enough folks to work the shifts and we tended to have a lot of fun on those shifts.

I suppose because I started out working holidays as a young man, it has never seemed very odd to me. Truth be told, I'll probably knock out some paperwork tomorrow eve, as I am not a big time football watcher, and everyone else will be elsewhere for the eve.

As for this chap, he may say he didn't quit, but if it isn't your call and you refuse to follow a directive to open, yeah, you've bailed on your duty and you quit.
On the flip side, a Chik Filet or a Hobby Lobby structured environment might be a far better fit for him as a next step in life. Hope he lands on his feet.

Yeah, not sure what the story is here. Worked lots of food service jobs back in the day and the short end of straw always got you the holiday shift.

Most job's I've ever had worked holidays. The U.S.A.F. nor the Commercial Aviation slows down around the Holidays. May be part of the reason I don't let a calendar dictate when and what I should be feeling. Hallmark can just kiss my butt.

I think it may be a generational thing. A lot of us here remember when it was against the law to be open on Thanksgiving. The old blue laws allowed for large service restaurants to offer Thanksgiving feasts and such but low service, fast food could not open. That went out before the end of the retail blue laws.

In Mass, Maine, and Rhode Island it's still against the law for retail to open on Thanksgiving.

So to me, I see this guys act as one of civil/employer disobedience. Things have changed so much. Especially with the demise of trade unions when labor and capital worked out agreements on this sort of thing. Today, labor is almost seen as some kind of reward and capital makes all the decisions. I know that greedy and corrupt big union leaders ruined organized labor in this country, but its almost complete demise has harmed our nation as a whole as the wage gap widens and all the breaks go to those at the top.

The service industry in general is getting to the point to where they do not expect their workers to have any downtime at all. Everyday is more or less considered it a workday. I think in 2-3 years most businesses will be open on all holidays. This could lead to many white collar professions holding business as usual instead of giving their people the day off. Why give people a day off just to go shopping? Retail has pretty much killed the holidays by turning them into mega shopping days.

I have a family member who works for a fairly large regional medical insurance company in the Midwest. They are closed Thanksgiving and Christmas, but open every other day. They expect all of their employees, including the degree professionals providing medical consultation to patients, to be there New Years Day and such reaching out to the insurance members.

I also agree with the cultural shift though. Growing up you knew everything was closed on a holiday. Today, you almost expect people to be open or are mildly surprised to find them closed. Just the nature of the always connected, instant gratification society we live in now.

I'm not surprised to see things closed on holidays, and I'm not surprised to see them open. Not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving or Christmas.

So, yeah, if you go against your employer's rules, you could get canned. Duh?

I do have to give this manager Kudos for not "bowing down" in fear and seems like he was willing to take a stand. Of course, many others take the stand that the manager was insubordinate. Regardless, he stood his ground and had the "courage" to do what others would not have done.

I'm not surprised to see things closed on holidays, and I'm not surprised to see them open. Not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving or Christmas.

So, yeah, if you go against your employer's rules, you could get canned. Duh?

It is true that not everyone celebrates every holiday but, I can guarantee that the corporate office is home with there families. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. If your expect your ground troops to work on a holiday than you should require the entire company to report for work out of respect for the workforce bring in the bacon for the company. Let's face it if people were not working in the stores tending to customers the CEO and board of directors would not earn a paycheck.


I do have to give this manager Kudos for not "bowing down" in fear and seems like he was willing to take a stand. Of course, many others take the stand that the manager was insubordinate. Regardless, he stood his ground and had the "courage" to do what others would not have done.

That is exactly what it is going to take to turn things around for the workforce. People need to stand up for themselves instead of turning the other cheek out of fear of losing their jobs. It's one thing to be asked to stay a few minutes over or pick up a shift on your day off but, when you take a away special holidays where family time is involved it's time to stand up and do something about it even if it means losing your job.

It is true that not everyone celebrates every holiday but, I can guarantee that the corporate office is home with there families. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. If your expect your ground troops to work on a holiday than you should require the entire company to report for work out of respect for the workforce bring in the bacon for the company. Let's face it if people were not working in the stores tending to customers the CEO and board of directors would not earn a paycheck.

That is exactly what it is going to take to turn things around for the workforce. People need to stand up for themselves instead of turning the other cheek out of fear of losing their jobs. It's one thing to be asked to stay a few minutes over or pick up a shift on your day off but, when you take a away special holidays where family time is involved it's time to stand up and do something about it even if it means losing your job.

Truer Words Were Never Spoken. (is "truer" a word?) (and, technically, it would be "written" rather than "spoken" but . . .)

As The Good Book Says: "Thou Canst Not Serve Both Turkey and Mammon." (John 28: 11-13)

For those that are confused why this happened and how it is "usual business" , not every one celebrates holidays , et al. This sentence in the article spells it out.

"In years past, Rohr said, Pizza Hut stores have been closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to Fox 8."

Yeah business has a right and all that, buts its the ones on the bottom who have to forsake being with loved ones. There should be wage and hour legislation if you work on a federal or state holiday you get double time.

Pizza Hut offers job back to manager fired for allegedly refusing to open on Thanksgiving | Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/11/28/pizza-hut-manager-fired-after-refusing-to-open-chain-on-thanksgiving/)

"We fully respect an employee’s right to not work on a holiday, which is why the vast majority of Pizza Huts in America are closed on Thanksgiving. As a result, we strongly recommended that the local franchisee reinstate the store manager and they have agreed. We look forward to them welcoming Tony back to the team," the statement read.

Yeah, not surprised that it was a franchise store at the center of the ruckus. I'm my experience with the food service industry, franchises tend to be be much worse locations to work at then corporate stores. Large enough to have an owner with no personal stake in the employees, but small enough to have crappy HR.

Yeah, not surprised that it was a franchise store at the center of the ruckus. I'm my experience with the food service industry, franchises tend to be be much worse locations to work at then corporate stores. Large enough to have an owner with no personal stake in the employees, but small enough to have crappy HR.
Yep, some franchise operators are just don't get anything other than the business itself, they tend to have issues with the personnel aspect of running a company. The general public also doesn't seem to understand the difference in corporate structures as well between company owned, franchised or licensed stores thinking every store is just part of some corporate behemoth.

You could have just said the general public also doesn't seem to understand...much.

Pizza Hut offers job back to manager fired for allegedly refusing to open on Thanksgiving | Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/11/28/pizza-hut-manager-fired-after-refusing-to-open-chain-on-thanksgiving/)
Good job for Pizza Hut! I hope the Fox News haters don't have a conniption.

At any rate, I like the thin crust pepperoni that Pizza Hut serves.

Good job for Pizza Hut! I hope the Fox News haters don't have a conniption.

At any rate, I like the thin crust pepperoni that Pizza Hut serves.

They could have just done the right thing the first time around.

Try Hideaway's thin crust.

They could have just done the right thing the first time around.

Try Hideaway's thin crust.
You are exactly right. But they didn't. Only the employees of the
Federal government are guaranteed time off for recognized holidays.

Pizza Hut has the right (privilege) to expect their employees to abide to
their procedures, even though I disagree with them. I'm thinking the
manager should have asked his employees if they wanted to work on TD
and then figure out a way to comply with the dorks, I mean, management.

I like Hideaway's thin crust. Very nice.