A Pizza Hut manager got in deep trouble for dishing it out to his superiors — telling them to shut their pie holes.
Tony Rohr, 28, says he got fired for refusing to open his restaurant in Elkhart, Ind. on Thanksgiving because he didn't want to force his employees to miss out on family time.
"I didn't necessarily have to work myself but I didn't want other people to, especially with a two-week notice because everyone already had plans," Rohr told the Daily News.
Rohr had worked his way up from cook to manager at Pizza Hut over the course of a decade. He started working there back in high school so he always had an affinity for the people he supervised.
His bosses asked him Nov. 12 to keep the store open for the holiday but he wouldn't. The next day, they said keeping the store open was mandatory — so he called for a meeting that Thursday.
"Look we have to talk about this Thanksgiving thing. It isn't right. I'm not going to make everyone work," he said.
But his superiors said that their competitors would be open so they couldn't afford to close.
"Can't we be the company that says we care about our employees and they can have the day off?" he said.
The higher-ups deliberated for about 15 minutes and then asked him to write a resignation letter, he said.
Instead of a resignation, he wrote a letter outlining his problems with making workers come in on Thanksgiving. He said the note made clear that he wasn't quitting but was willing to risk termination to stand up for his employees.
The regional manager Chuck Kayser said that Rohr actually quit his job.
"He was not terminated," Kayser said. "FMI (a franchise operator) is a good company and people are going to go out shopping and people are going to need to eat. They get hungry when they're out shopping."
Kayser added that he couldn't believe keeping the restaurant open for the holiday would be such a big deal that someone would quit.
"Nobody is forcing anyone to work," he said.
Rohr's family and girlfriend, on the other hand, understand and support his actions completely.
"I sure am proud of him. I can tell you that," his father James Rohr said to The News.
One of Rohr's friends blasted Pizza Hut over the situation on Facebook. Local CBS affiliate WSBT caught wind of the post and reached out to Rohr to hear him out. From there, the story went viral.
Rohr is still looking for a new job but feels that standing up for his workers was worth the sacrifice.
"I'm glad I did what I did. I was proud."
Pizza Hut’s corporate office said that a restaurant’s decision to be open or closed on a holiday is up to the independent franchisees.
“We respect an employee's decision not to work on a holiday if they so choose, which is why the vast majority of Pizza Huts in America are closed on Thanksgiving,” the company said in a statement.
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