MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — As more and more Frisch's locations close across the Tri-State, some restaurant employees said they've been ordered to sign documents or lose their jobs.
"They kept telling us we're going to stay open, there was a continuance, which we found out later was a lie," said Haley Johnson. "And then the day of us closing is the day we found out it was closing."
Johnson said she felt blindsided walking into work Sunday and finding out it would be her last day working at the Middletown location.
"It was really sad," she said. "We had regulars come in, there was a lot of tears shed, it was horrible."
Several customers said they also felt blindsided driving up to the restaurant only to find out it was closed.
"We get the rude awakening that everybody else has that's been driving up that it's shut down — no notice," said Sarah Karafa.
On the topic of notice, Johnson said she also received a document on her last day asking her if she wanted to transfer to another location. It asks the employee to write down their two preferred locations. The other option is resigning. She refused to sign the document, and on Tuesday, she found out she was fired for not signing it.
Former Frisch’s employee said she felt blindsided coming into work Sunday finding out this would be her last day. They had been asking for weeks but assured they were safe. Then they were given this paper on their last day. @WCPO pic.twitter.com/bgXvIltkmb
— Bret Buganski (@Bret_Buganski) November 12, 2024
Matt Miller-Novak specializes in employment law in Cincinnati at Barron Peck Bennie & Schlemmer. He said the employees who worked at one of the now-closed locations have little to no recourse.
"If you're terminated for cause you also don't get unemployment, so part of what concerns me here is that if you don't sign this as a Frisch's employee, and they terminate you, that would be considered a termination for cause, which would result in essentially not qualifying for unemployment," Miller-Novak said.
We reached out to Frisch's for comment, but we didn't hear back from the company.
Johnson said she felt like the company lied to her, and her next step is trying to find a new job to provide for her two small children.
"It was more than lied, they had us believing we were really going to be OK and have a job," said Johnson. "We got Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I don't know how I'm going to provide for them when it's just me and them."
