Several people were scrambling for a new job after restaurant employees learned their Sunday shift would be their last shift.
“I’ve got single mothers that were working under me. You know, people who were the sole providers for their households, and that’s completely unacceptable that they’d be discarded like trash without any chance to prepare,” John Smink, former assistant manager at Genghis Grill Carrollwood said.
Smink said he and other managers found out during a high-level meeting around 8 p.m. Sunday that the Genghis Grill location in Carrollwood was going out-of-business that same night.
“I walked out of the meeting as soon as that was announced. I was pretty upset about it and disgusted, went around to all my crew, gave them hugs, said ‘goodbye’ and let them know what was happening,” Smink said.
Smink said upper management told them they would get their last paychecks and contacted other workers through social media to tell them about the closure.
“Very few people were actually called by the company, though, and that’s a little disappointing that even half an hour before this interview I talked to somebody else that I was working with who still hasn’t gotten a phone call yet,” Smink said.
ABC Action News called the head of operations for the franchisee. He declined an on-camera interview, but sent an email saying they “… regret the lack of notice given to our employees and customers, we were hopeful that we would be able to remain open and avoid a closure by working through a deal with our landlord.”
The statement also noted that employees who were laid off would get priority interviews at the Genghis Grill Brandon location.
“I understand that it was a business move. You know, it was something that needed to happen eventually, but I just feel that the manner in which they did it was completely wrong,” Smink said.
