YPSILANTI, Mich. (WXYZ) — Former Bobcat Bonnie’s employees hit the picket line on Thursday in hopes their voices will be heard by the restaurant’s corporate team.
“We’re out here because what happened to us at Bobcats in Ypsilanti was absolutely unacceptable and we want to make sure that doesn’t happen to other Bobcat locations and our fellow workers in those locations,” said Luca Maurizio, a former Bobcat Bonnie’s employee.
Maurizio and other employees say they had many issues while working at the Ypsilanti location.
“We’ve been experiencing inconsistent scheduling, we’re not getting enough hours, management has been belittling us, treating us disrespectfully,” Maurizio said. “A lot of my coworkers have been experiencing bounced paychecks. Someone even told me it takes like 24 days to get their paycheck, which is unacceptable.”
Maurizio says when the employees brought their concerns to the Bobcat Bonnie’s corporate team, they were notified that the restaurant was closing.
“Within the week, we were told by Matt that he’s suspended operations at our Ypsilanti location in response to the concerns that we raised. That was even more disrespectful than the demands we brought up,” Maurizio said.
When 7 News Detroit reached out to the Bobcat Bonnie’s corporate team about why the Ypsilanti location was closing, we were sent this statement:
Bobcat Bonnie’s takes staff complaints seriously. On October 7, a handful of Ypsilanti staff members came to the corporate office with complaints and demands about working conditions in a written statement. We spoke immediately with the individuals to address the issues. We brought in an employment attorney because we wanted to take the allegations seriously. We reached out to these staff members again to investigate the claims further and have been rebuffed twice.
It is incredibly hurtful to see negative commentary because we have always taken great pride in our place in the community. We are open to suggestions and changes in this ever evolving restaurant industry. Bobcat Bonnie’s will always be committed to being a place folks can take pride in working, in an environment that celebrates them and to address any issue quickly and competently.
We will not be reopening the Ypsilanti location. Like many small restaurants, we are shrinking our footprint so we can be more focused on our other locations throughout Michigan.
The former employees who were out picketing brought up a concern about severance pay as well.
“We’re here personally trying to get severance pay for ourselves and our employees who lost their jobs in Ypsilanti,” said Meghan Miller, a former Bobcat Bonnie’s employee.
The former employees said they are not calling for a boycott.
“We actually want you to keep supporting the other stores and supporting the servers because they are struggling. They’re experiencing the same issues we did and we hope to get the other stores organized, so we can make a bigger change for the company over all,” Miller said.
The group will be picketing from Thursday until Sunday.
