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The Popeyes franchise manager “screamed” at federal investigators, the DOL says in a lawsuit.
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He cursed at the investigators and slammed a door so hard it shook the building, per the lawsuit.
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When investigators previously visited the restaurant, they were told all its staff had gone home sick, per the DOL
When federal investigators visited a Popeyes franchise restaurant in Pennsylvania as part of a probe into its employment practices, a manager screamed curse words at them and slammed the kitchen door so hard it shook the whole building, the US Department of Labor said.
Investigators from the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division visited the restaurant in Harrisburg on April 5, and as soon as the district manager arrived on site he began to scream at them, per a civil action filed by the department in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on April 13.
The complaint claims that the district manager “instantly started screaming ‘what the f*** are you doing here,’ using an aggressive tone and demeanor.”
Other comments he made to the investigators included “you think since you have f******* badges you can just walk the f*** in here” and “you are not going to interview nobody, you can stay there all you want,” per the lawsuit.
The district manager also slammed the kitchen door “so hard that the entire establishment shook,” per the complaint.
His “demeanor, actions, and tone were threatening to the investigators, which caused the investigators to fear for their physical well-being,” the DOL wrote.
After holding a closed-door meeting with the employees, the district manager then stood in the doorway between the restaurant staff in the kitchen and the investigators in the dining area. The DOL said that his words and demeanor “made it clear” that he didn’t want his staff to speak to the investigators.
The DOL said that when the Wage and Hour Division previously attempted to conduct investigatory interviews on March 14, the general manager told investigators that all the restaurant’s employees had gone home sick.
Christopher C. Conner, US District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, ordered the franchise company and the district manager not to retaliate against staff who speak to federal investigators or tell them to share false information. The judge’s preliminary injunction from May 1 also forbids the restaurant from questioning workers about their communications with the investigators.
A case management call has been set up between the judge and the parties for June 7. Popeyes and parent company Restaurant Brands International have not been listed as defendants in the lawsuit.
RBI and lawyers for the district manager and the franchise company did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment, made outside of regular US working hours.
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