Feel like my cousin was treated very unfairly at her job, is there anything I can do?

Question

My very shy cousin got her first job two weeks ago, working in a kitchen. She had to pass a very quick health and hygiene test. She is a straight A student and very intelligent, but incredibly shy and reserved, and is only 17, so she mainly wanted the job to help her gain confidence.

She came home really upset a few times including the first day because the chef had shouted at her. She told me the chef gives her lots of instructions and gets angry if she messes up.

Today she came home in tears shaking and I couldn't get her to tell me what was wrong. She was sitting on the floor having a panic fit. She hasn't had a panic attack in years.

She said she had been preparing meat and taken her glove off, and put it on the counter. She said the chef had gone furious with her, screamed at her so loud and for so long that the other staff all ran outside the kitchen to see what was going on (because it is a health hazard.)

She said after she started crying and apologising, the chef continued to shout, causing someone else to intervene and get her out of there.

She ran away from that job I'm going in tomorrow to talk to them. But now she has gotten so much worse than before, she doesn't want to have another job ever again and hasn't stopped crying all night.

I feel like it's really traumatised her and whilst what she did was technically a health hazard, I think the way it was handled was really unfair. I feel like the chef was a bully. Can I do something about this?

StephenWeinstein · Answer

No.  Employers are allowed to treat employees unfairly, with certain very specific exceptions (such as racial discrimination).  And your involvement is likely to make things worse.

BeeLiz19 · Answer

This is very typical of a kitchen. Even if the idiot didn't yell at her, she clearly wouldn't be able to keep up with the demands at the pace. It would take her too long to learn, they would've fired her in a month.

Don't go in and talk to the guy, it is not your place at ALL. What she does need to do is have a heart to heart with the owner/manager. She needs to acknowledge that she doesn't feel comfortable in the position, and she wants the owner's honest opinion about how long they would be willing to give her to learn how to deal with the demands of the job. If they say "Listen, as a business we need someone who can do it in an extremely short time", then she says "I understand, in that case I am giving you my resignation." If they say "Listen, we completely understand, we hired you understanding you don't have the experience. We need you to be at this level of proficiency in 3 months", then she can make the call whether or not she'll be able to do that in time.

Starting in a kitchen is the WORST place you can start. Fastfood is bett-er, but lesson learned; you NEVER leave dirty things lying around.

Steve D · Answer

No, you cannot do anything for her and more than likely you will make it worse.  Point number 1 - the restaurant is not there to provide a training venue for your cousin it is there to make a profit and nothing else.  Point number 2 - your cousin created a health hazard which could have actually gotten the restaurant shut down.  Point number 3 - it is up to your cousin to learn how to deal with problems at work, not for work to accommodate her,

Michael · Answer

Life is rarely fair and your cousin needs to learn that she’s the one who needs to stand up for herself.  By trying to fight her battles for her, you are doing her a disservice.  You and your cousin also need to learn that in the real world nobody is obligated to care about your feelings.

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Feel like my cousin was treated very unfairly at her job, is there anything I can do?

4 Answers