A Jimmy John’s manager is receiving backlash after reportedly demanding that an off-duty employee return to work late at night to lock up and firing the employee when she said no.
TikTok user Jay Megan (@nerdypinkpanda) posted a video on Sept. 23 in which she explains the situation. She opened with: “Oh, Jimmy John’s. I do believe you have a lawsuit brewing.”
@nerdypinkpanda @Jimmy John’s 🥪 , does your manager think its ok to #fire someone because they REFUSED to 🍻 and drive? To fix HIS screw up? And then steal TIPS to pay for an car??!? #lawsuit #dobetter #fypage ♬ original sound – Jay Megan
Megan continues, “Little background first: It’s 9pm. This young lady and her boyfriend are settling in for the night. They have a couple of drinks and are heading to bed when her boss calls and demands that she drive back to the Jimmy John’s to lock it up because he forgot to give the new employee a key. So he fired her. And wait until you find out why he couldn’t lock it up?”
What followed was a clip from TikToker @partycones, who is the boyfriend of the fired employee. The video starts in the middle of a heated phone call with the manager, who has reportedly already told the employee that she’s getting fired.
Speaking on the phone, the TikTok user says, “Yeah, you’re telling me she’s fired? Because we’ve been drinking tonight and she can’t drive. Hold on. Right? Yes or no, because you just said she was fired, right?”
The manager responds by saying, “She’s fired for not being able to do her job.” The boyfriend retorts, “Because she’s drinking tonight when she’s off the clock. She’s not paid to be on duty, right?”
The heated back and forth continues until the manager suggests the couple can take an Uber, but when asked, refuses to pay for it. Pressed, the manager suggests the employee can take the necessary money out of the restaurant’s tip jar.
The phone call portion of the video is accompanied by onscreen captions which read: “Jimmy Johns manager is on a power trip” and “The worst part about it is he is still employed.”
Reacting to the video, one commenter wrote, “You need to contact a lawyer asap.” @partycones responded, “I already have, but his boss decided to do nothing about this so I decided to post it here as well.”
Another commenter wrote, “Off the clock is off the clock! That is crazy.”
A third commenter chimed in, “This is why I don’t answer the phone when I’m off the clock.”
The Daily Dot reached out to @partycones via TikTok comment and to Jimmy John’s parent organization Inspire Brands via press email for comment.
