Your entire staff unanimously decides that they would rather be unemployed than work another day under your supervision? Ebenezer Scrooge looks to this owner for inspiration.

your entire staff quits forcing your business to close.

They spontaneously decided to run a 24/7 operation?

The training to be a barista is rigorous

Really? The 17 year old behind the counter has a PhD in Caffeine Science?

So some kids in their 20's get bent out of shape because one of the owners does not coddle them. Is that the crux of it? F them.

Panty Sniffer: So some kids in their 20's get bent out of shape because one of the owners does not coddle them. Is that the crux of it? F them.

The owner had the choice to appease them or face consequences.

Nothing illegal was done here.

What's the issue?

CraicBaby: That headline makes my head hurt.

It's warrior poetry, I think.

Staff: We don't like your partner. She goes or we go.

Owner: Are you sure that's your position? Because you leave me no room but to accept your resignation.

Staff: Yep.

Owner: Can you hand me that stack of applications for your replacements on your way out the door?

If, during the attempt to write a Fark tagline, it ends up grammatically mangled. You may not be smart

Occam's Nailfile: Staff: We don't like your partner. She goes or we go.

Owner: Are you sure that's your position? Because you leave me no room but to accept your resignation.

Staff: Yep.

Owner: Can you hand me that stack of applications for your replacements on your way out the door?

You're right. The workers, who can easily find another job across the street, should have continued to toil in what they call a "perpetually malicious, hostile, and demeaning" work environment.

Why does everyone automatically side with the business owner? Owning a business doesn't make you infallible.

If, during the time that the cream sits out too long, a problem comes along. You must whip it.

tricycleracer: Occam's Nailfile: Staff: We don't like your partner. She goes or we go.

Owner: Are you sure that's your position? Because you leave me no room but to accept your resignation.

Staff: Yep.

Owner: Can you hand me that stack of applications for your replacements on your way out the door?

You're right. The workers, who can easily find another job across the street, should have continued to toil in what they call a "perpetually malicious, hostile, and demeaning" work environment.

Why does everyone automatically side with the business owner? Owning a business doesn't make you infallible.

Why do you automatically take the words of the baristas (who contacted Consumerist of all places) at face value?

tricycleracer: Occam's Nailfile: Staff: We don't like your partner. She goes or we go.

Owner: Are you sure that's your position? Because you leave me no room but to accept your resignation.

Staff: Yep.

Owner: Can you hand me that stack of applications for your replacements on your way out the door?

You're right. The workers, who can easily find another job across the street, should have continued to toil in what they call a "perpetually malicious, hostile, and demeaning" work environment.

Why does everyone automatically side with the business owner? Owning a business doesn't make you infallible.

Indeed... the unemployment situation has given a lot of people (crappy managers and hiring folks) this false idea that it's alright to treat people like shiat. You need employees. I need a job.

2chris2: If, during the attempt to write a Fark tagline, it ends up grammatically mangled. You may not be smart

I hope you were aiming for irony. Is there a meme I've missed?

Ah, title I have missed.

/ Facepalm

The_Six_Fingered_Man: Why do you automatically take the words of the baristas (who contacted Consumerist of all places) at face value?

I take them at their actions. They quit.

All of them.

Do you feel that they did something immoral or unethical?

If, while my thoughts were busy hatchin', I only had a brain. I could be another Lincoln

I remember getting coffee here one, when I was in town for a conference. The place was dirty, the staff rude, and the coffee underwhelming. With a mix like that, I'm not surprised they all up and quit.

Will they lose their health care?

The_Six_Fingered_Man: tricycleracer: Occam's Nailfile: Staff: We don't like your partner. She goes or we go.

Owner: Are you sure that's your position? Because you leave me no room but to accept your resignation.

Staff: Yep.

Owner: Can you hand me that stack of applications for your replacements on your way out the door?

You're right. The workers, who can easily find another job across the street, should have continued to toil in what they call a "perpetually malicious, hostile, and demeaning" work environment.

Why does everyone automatically side with the business owner? Owning a business doesn't make you infallible.

Why do you automatically take the words of the baristas (who contacted Consumerist of all places) at face value?

What's the most likely cause of the entire staff becoming unemployed? It certainly sounds like an attempt at collective bargaining that resulted in the owner terminating the entire group. Union busting is generally illegal, isn't it?

If, during these troubling economic times, your entire staff quits forcing your business to close. It may not be them

THEN WHO WAS STAFF?

Stile4aly: The_Six_Fingered_Man: tricycleracer: Occam's Nailfile: Staff: We don't like your partner. She goes or we go.

Owner: Are you sure that's your position? Because you leave me no room but to accept your resignation.

Staff: Yep.

Owner: Can you hand me that stack of applications for your replacements on your way out the door?

You're right. The workers, who can easily find another job across the street, should have continued to toil in what they call a "perpetually malicious, hostile, and demeaning" work environment.

Why does everyone automatically side with the business owner? Owning a business doesn't make you infallible.

Why do you automatically take the words of the baristas (who contacted Consumerist of all places) at face value?

What's the most likely cause of the entire staff becoming unemployed? It certainly sounds like an attempt at collective bargaining that resulted in the owner terminating the entire group. Union busting is generally illegal, isn't it?

I wasn't aware there was a barista's union. Link please?

impaler: Being a real barista takes some skill. They need to pull consistent shots and create micro foam. Most won't realize this though, with the ubiquitous super-automatic machines in places like starbucks. It's not like being an automechanic though. Some training and a week of on the job practice should make one competent.

That's about how long it takes to become a competent auto mechanic. Being a barista, a REAL barista and not the assholes who just learn to push buttons like most people are used to nowadays, is as much an art as being a pastry chef at a 4-star restaurant. Unfortunately, cafe coffee has become so cheap lately that hardly anyone can tell the difference between a perfectly brewed espresso shot and their aunt's feces. I've been to Gorilla Coffee, and it used to be one of those places that is completely wasted on most of it's customers. If the baristas are anything like they used to be, comparing one of them to a Starbucks employee is like saying Wolfgang Puck should STFU and get back to making fries.

/End of coffee rant by coffe snob, brought to you by coffee

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: If, during the time that the cream sits out too long, a problem comes along. You must whip it.

whip it good

Stile4aly: The_Six_Fingered_Man: tricycleracer: Occam's Nailfile: Staff: We don't like your partner. She goes or we go.

Owner: Are you sure that's your position? Because you leave me no room but to accept your resignation.

Staff: Yep.

Owner: Can you hand me that stack of applications for your replacements on your way out the door?

You're right. The workers, who can easily find another job across the street, should have continued to toil in what they call a "perpetually malicious, hostile, and demeaning" work environment.

Why does everyone automatically side with the business owner? Owning a business doesn't make you infallible.

Why do you automatically take the words of the baristas (who contacted Consumerist of all places) at face value?

What's the most likely cause of the entire staff becoming unemployed? It certainly sounds like an attempt at collective bargaining that resulted in the owner terminating the entire group. Union busting is generally illegal, isn't it?

They weren't terminated. They quit. Of their own volition.

I just think that it's funny on a site that most users deride the Consumerist for being one-sided, everyone is eager to take the words of the workers in this case.

also, sounds like a business partner or staff may have been a complete asshole, or at least that's the complaint from the staff, so why wouldn't they quit? I've resigned from working for one guy because he was verbally abusive, I either could sit there and take it, becoming a nasty vile thing as my heart poisoned from being spat upon by that venomous fool, or I could leave and go work for someone else

leave is what I did

You are fired!

"perpetually malicious, hostile, and demeaning."

I don't think I've ever held a job that wasn't perpetually at least two out of three.

Good for the workers. It's one thing to work a shiat job, but it's quite another to take it because there's nothing else out there. If this is America, fark it.

Saturday Night Meningitis: "perpetually malicious, hostile, and demeaning."

I don't think I've ever held a job that wasn't perpetually at least two out of three.

It's sad that you accept this.

They can't get rich without us.

tricycleracer: It's sad that you accept this.

They can't get rich without us.

"They"? I have as bad a time when I'm working for a small business as I do when I'm working for a huge corporation. The problem is that I don't have any particular talents, passions or ambitions, and that I don't get along well with other humans. This is as good as it's getting.

Saturday Night Meningitis: tricycleracer: It's sad that you accept this.

They can't get rich without us.

"They"? I have as bad a time when I'm working for a small business as I do when I'm working for a huge corporation. The problem is that I don't have any particular talents, passions or ambitions, and that I don't get along well with other humans. This is as good as it's getting.

Wow, sucks to be you, dude. "No talents, passions, or ambitions, and I don't get along well with other humans" = you need therapy, stat.

A lot of high-falutin' ten-dollar words in that email but I didn't see anything more than a claim of "issues" that the employees found undesirable.

Oh, and, WAAAAAAH! WAAAAAAH!


/If it wasn't political then you wouldn't be doing what you're doing. You would just be finding other jobs.

simpsonfan Quote 2010-04-13 10:38:53 PM
With the economy still in the Bush Depression

Blaming Bush: The last refuge of a person unwilling or unable to think for his or her self.

Pretty straight forward, shame there are morans here that can't get it, but no surprise, given same said morans.

It is like this: the larger the number of people willing to give up their jobs because of intolerable working conditions, the more likely the source of the problem it is a management flaw.

That sufficient staff quit as to shut the place down definitely shows that management is at least incompetent (to deal with the situation, at minimum) or worse, and again, at minimum are part, or more likely all, of the problem.

The_Six_Fingered_Man: I just think that it's funny on a site that most users deride the Consumerist for being one-sided, everyone is eager to take the words of the workers in this case.

Eh. There's a basic numbers game going on here. Either one manager was a complete and unreasonable dick, or every single one of his employees was a complete and unreasonable dick.

Besides, the boss being at fault isn't that hard to believe. If you've never had a job so bad that you had to quit, it's not because you're 'tougher than these teenagers who need to be coddled.' It's because you either A.) never had a job, you farking troll B.) had daddy set you up with a nice gig somewhere so you wouldn't have to do a shiat job, you farking brat or C.) got lucky, which is pretty cool and I'm happy for you, but you need to understand that not everyone else did.

Farkit, who am I kidding, there are only trolls here, aren't there?

At will employment is a two way street. Bosses fire at any time, and don't need to give a reason. Employees can quit at any time, and don't need to give a reason. They are not slaves. The boss does not own them. If they all quit, tyrant bosses better be able to run the place their damn selves. Since the place closed, these clowns obviously couldn't.

douchebag/hater: simpsonfan Quote 2010-04-13 10:38:53 PM
With the economy still in the Bush Depression

Blaming Bush: The last refuge of a person unwilling or unable to think for his or her self.

Both parties are equally bad, so blame the Republicans

/amidoinitright?

Menstrual Cyclist: I remember getting coffee here one, when I was in town for a conference. The place was dirty, the staff rude, and the coffee underwhelming. With a mix like that, I'm not surprised they all up and quit.

Except the place is nowhere near any "conference". Do you happen to recall what part of Brooklyn that you were in? You may have this place confused with another. Or perhaps not, but Gorilla is fairly far off the main drag of things in NYC.

The employees all have the appearance of being trustafarians. I guess that when you have FU money, you can all quit en masse. Not to apologize for the owners - I don't know them, just a happy customer - but the entire joint is lousy with hipsters.

At any rate, this sucks because they sell a Brazilian roast (beans, not the brewed coffee) that's really to die for. Seriously, some of the very best coffee that I've ever tasted, and I take my coffee pretty seriously. And I was going to head over tomorrow for a few pounds.

What's weird is that the free cup that they give me when I buy beans typically tastes like crap. Don't know how such good beans could be tortured into their drip coffee. Perhaps we're not hearing the entire story.

simpsonfan: With the economy still in the Bush Depression, nobody will quit a job unless they:

Win the lottery.
Know they can still get another job easily.
Really hate the place they work at.

In this case, we can probably rule out the first.

You would be wrong. Every single day I talk to people who quit jobs they didn't hate. They just want to do something different or assume they can make more money elsewhere. Usually they end up making less and/or doing something they really do hate out of desperation when their dream job doesn't materialize.

The_Six_Fingered_Man: They weren't terminated. They quit. Of their own volition.

I just think that it's funny on a site that most users deride the Consumerist for being one-sided, everyone is eager to take the words of the workers in this case.

Granted, they quit. I'm not taking their word at face value, I'm just hard pressed to think of a counterproposition for why an entire store's staff would quit simultaneously.

Menstrual Cyclist: Stile4aly: The_Six_Fingered_Man: tricycleracer: Occam's Nailfile: Staff: We don't like your partner. She goes or we go.

Owner: Are you sure that's your position? Because you leave me no room but to accept your resignation.

Staff: Yep.

Owner: Can you hand me that stack of applications for your replacements on your way out the door?

You're right. The workers, who can easily find another job across the street, should have continued to toil in what they call a "perpetually malicious, hostile, and demeaning" work environment.

Why does everyone automatically side with the business owner? Owning a business doesn't make you infallible.

Why do you automatically take the words of the baristas (who contacted Consumerist of all places) at face value?

What's the most likely cause of the entire staff becoming unemployed? It certainly sounds like an attempt at collective bargaining that resulted in the owner terminating the entire group. Union busting is generally illegal, isn't it?

I wasn't aware there was a barista's union. Link please?

They don't need to join an established union, they could choose to collectively bargain on their own, however if you want an example of an established union they could join, here you go.

This is Brooklyn. Someone's gonna get a beatin'.

Occam's Nailfile: Staff: We don't like your partner. She goes or we go.

Owner: Are you sure that's your position? Because you leave me no room but to accept your resignation.

Staff: Yep.

Owner: Can you hand me that stack of applications for your replacements on your way out the door?

Probably a death sentence for the company to be honest. There are other places people can get their coffee and you aren't going to be able to replace that many people at once. Whats more there is a lot of competition, until the store does get itself up an running again people will go elsewhere, and many of them wont come back.

Not to mention, being such a terrible employer that your entire staff quits? Not great PR.

Occam's Nailfile: Staff: We don't like your partner. She goes or we go.

Owner: Are you sure that's your position? Because you leave me no room but to accept your resignation.

Staff: Yep.

Owner: Can you hand me that stack of applications for your replacements on your way out the door?

Yeah, I really doubt a coffeeshop can last for long without any employees while they hire new ones.