OPINION:
A Florida Pizza Hut manager, apparently drunk on the power of his pie-making position, threatened his employees with a chilling notice that stated those who evacuated would be punished.
Talk about a guy who needs to get a life.
“You cannot evacuate Friday for a Tuesday storm event! Failure to show for these shifts [between Friday and Tuesday], regardless of reason, will be considered a no call/no show and documentation will be issued,” the notice from one Jacksonville manager to his employees read, CNN reported.
Oh no. Not “documentation.”
The issuance of such is always cause for alarm — more so, even, than rising flood waters or mayoral proclamations to leave the city.
As Time noted: “Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry began ordering a mandatory evacuation for certain parts of the city on Friday.”
That’s all fine and dandy — just not the Pizza Hut parts, as this manager made clear.
The notice gave employees a 24-hour “grace period,” pre-storm, to leave town. And once the storm leaves?
“In the event of an evacuation, you MUST return within 72 HOURS,” the notice read, Time reported.
Pizza Hut, the corporation, tried to contain the public relations damage.
“We absolutely do not have a policy that dictates when team members can leave or return from a disaster, and the manager who posted this letter did not follow company guidelines,” headquarters said in a statement. “We can also confirm that the local franchise operator has addressed this situation with the manager involved.”
You don’t say.
So, does that mean Pizza Hut will not be delivering during the flood — or does it mean its delivery will be limited to only those areas where boats are needed to travel?
Social media was quick to shame.
“Pizza Hut’s awesome Irma policy,” wrote one Twitter user, beneath a photo of the offending memo that was tacked on a cork board. “Not a good look, @pizzahut.”
Nope. Not much you can say in defense of a company policy that puts pizza above lives. That’s a hard one to spin — maybe Papa John’s, Domino’s and Little Caesars have something to add.
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