Boss said yes but son said no

[thefairlaneman]

I would like your opinion of this.My son (student) works part time for a well know eatery downtown. It stays open untill 11pm on Fridays, This Friday the boss told him after he got to work that he had decided that because several colleges frats were looking for a place to drink and party after hours till 3 am he would remain open and expected him to stay and be a "bouncer" and check Ids..My son said "you didnt hire me to be a bouncer and deal with drunks and Im not going to do it.period. He went home on time and I guess he still has his job. Was he wrong.? I might add that these frats were what are called "outlaw frats" because they arent held accountable to any real acredible frat in any way. I think the boss was wrong for just wanting to stay open for quick cash on marked up drinks.This would have put my son in a dangerious position and the boss didnt even ask any of his female staff to stay......

 

[lowkee]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

Door duty isn't exactly tough work. Bouncing can be. In the same position I would likely agree but refuse to do anything beyond door duty and the occasional 'talking to'. Bouncers have formal training and without it your son would be at risk if a scuffle turned worse. Heck, you could even demand part of the tips or hazard pay for doign the favor. Bonus bucks to watch crazy frat boys get hammered. Being white surrounded by 'minorities' (I'll assume blacks) isn't exactly dangerous, so long as he isn't bouncing the back streets of Harlem.

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

Everything has a price, the only mistake your boy made was making it a decision made on qualifications instead of money. For the right price I can stand at the door with a cellphone and call the cops too.

If there is something I have learned over the years is, extra work should be rewarded with extra pay. I would imagine the boss would have balked at paying your boy more money and would have said "forget it" and looked for another sucker.

Pretty sleezy to ask without offering to pay extra, sounds like a cheap SOB.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

there are too many things wrong in this situation. as far as i am concerned, your son is in the right. the owner should have made plans eariler for a bouncer. off duty, plain clothed police officer. if you son did it, and injured a customer, there are many legal ramifications. who is going to cover your son medical bills if he was injured.

also is this legal for the business to stay open that long. here we have after hours clubs, but no alcohol is served, the old BYOB thing, and they are mostly drug havens.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

The less you have to deal with obnoxious drunks the better in my opinion.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

I see your son's point about not wanting to do a job he wasn't hired for. I can't support it being a race based decision, though.
Be aware, if your son has no employment contract, no union, and NC is a right to work state, he will be fired, legally, and replaced by someone else who will do the job. Sometimes there is a price to pay for doing what you want.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

TilliamWe, 'replaced by someone else who will do the job'. in that case the boy is better off not working for that man. some owners don't have the sense, God gave a Goose.

let me ask, hold old is the son?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

there are too many things wrong in this situation. as far as i am concerned, your son is in the right. the owner should have made plans eariler for a bouncer. off duty, plain clothed police officer. if you son did it, and injured a customer, there are many legal ramifications. who is going to cover your son medical bills if he was injured.

also is this legal for the business to stay open that long. here we have after hours clubs, but no alcohol is served, the old BYOB thing, and they are mostly drug havens.

I agree completely with this post. I bet the owner's insurance company would like to know about his cunning new business plan. I bet they'd change his rates a smidge.

 

[cheburashka]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

You didn't mention what his current job is, but I think he made an excellent decision. I also think you should be proud of him for sticking to his guns. I agree with those who have pointed out that a bouncer needs special training. Even the hours are problematic.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

You should be VERY proud of your son.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

If bouncer cuty is outside of the scope for which he was hired, then he was surely in the right for refusing and leaving. My other issue with this situation would be being informed of having to work and extra 4 hours, in the middle of the night and having been asked or notified in advance. I make plans around my work schedule, be it home projects, family time, out of town traveling, or having to go to National Guard Drill. My duty station is 4 1/2 hours from my home. The Boss may not have known what my plans were, but it also is not his business. I would have refused mearly based on the schedule change without prior notice and outisde of the Normal rhelm of working hours...

I feel he did right and you should be proud. I do hope the owner has enough sense not to fire him over it. The owner was wrong...

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

I think your son did the right thing. If the boss fires him, so be it - the guy isn't worth working for anyway, if he would do such a thing.

Just to put this in perspective and to reinforce some of the comments made by others, consider that we had four bouncers in New Orleans tried for manslaughter over a "door issue," which resulted in the death of a person who was denied entrance to the club. The victim was also a college student and two of the bouncers were originally charged with negligent homicide. The death did not result from the bouncers beating the victim - they merely pinned him down to the sidewalk, but put so much weight on him that he couldn't breathe.

While I believe all four were aquitted, they remain subject to civil lawsuit. I'll stay away from the "rights and wrongs" about what happened, but suffice it to say that a family lost a young man, and four other people will live with the incident and the financial problems that will result from it, for the rest of their lives.

Tell your son that he made a very mature and sensible decision. As for being fired, if that comes to pass, I think you can also tell him that standing by a principal is often difficult. The difference between one who will do so and those who will not, however, is the willingness to take whatever "heat" results.



???

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

Hmmm....Would the frat boys be bringing a bunch of sorority babes with them? Could have been very interesting.

 

[rbh]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

I just have to ask, Whats this right to work thing?
I know that were I am theres a thing called the workers compinsation board
it is a provincial entity.
WCB is there to make the work place safer, if I was to put my employees in a position were they could be hurt because of lack of due dilagance on my part I could and would have a hefty fine levyed againt me if they were hurt.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

Right To Work is often confused with Employment at Will.

Right To Work has to do with laws that insure that workers can keep a job in a "union shop," even if they choose not to join the union involved. They are paid on par with union members and have the same benefits, but pay no dues and hold no union membership. The only state that I know of that has a Right To Work law, is Louisiana.

Employment At Will laws, which exist in almost every state in the US, allow employers to terminate employees for any reason not prohibited by Federal and State discrimination laws. That said, employers get sued all the time for "Wrongful Termination," which like most issues resolved by civil lawsuits, is subject to interpretation and argument by the parties involved.



???

 

[LadyFish]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

I would advise your son to go to the EEOC.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

Thanks for the answers. My son is 25 and has worked at this same place as a very dependable waiter and fill in bar tender for 4 years, As said no advance notice was given and the bss said he was short handed. I think if he had 7 or 8 people there it might be differant but there would have been only 3. Also this job offers no medical insurance so if he would have been assaulted for telling an underage drinker he couldnt come in it would be 100% on him. A drunk hits someone and then leaves= fat chance the cops ,when they finally show up will do anything. My son knows very well how many frat drinking parties develope because he was in a frat at ECU which is the most well known school for drinking in the southeast. The boss said he would give him a check for 25 bucks for his extra time.I say hell no and encourage him to quit and focus on a real job because in a few months he will finally graduate. thanks again

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

I think there are a couple of misunderstandings in regard to what happened.

First, EEOC would not handle this matter, nor would the State's Division on Civil Rights. In short, its not a discrimination issue - its just a dumb boss issue. If the boss does fire Fairlaneman's son, a lawsuit is probably not in the cards either, because making a wrongful termination claim in an Employment at Will state is difficult, unless sexual harrassment, etc., can be proved.

On the issue of insurance, it is not a group insurance plan or private health insurance plan that would come into play. This is because any injury as a bouncer would occur in the course of the son's dutiies as an employee. All businesses in the US are required to carry workers comp for employees except for the owners, who do not have to insure themselves. Given the employer's attempt to pay $25 separately, I wouldn't be surprised if he was trying to do an "under table deal" in an attempt to avoid this, but he wouldn't succeed.

Really, this is just one of those crappy situations that occurs in the workplace, thousands of times everyday, across the country. I think the son has two choices - first, to just ride it out and see if he gets fired and, second, to find another job. Its hard to accept the need to move on after four years, but sometimes its for the best.



???

 

[DayCruiser]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

Your son did the right thing. Time for him to move on. The relationship of boss and employee has been severed.
I read about 2 bouncers leaving a bar and a couple of morons were waiting on them with knives. Surprise attack. The 2 big buys were no match for switch blades

 

[Bifflefan]

Re: Boss said yes but son said no

The short answer is "He is a grown up and able to make the decisions for his life". This is just one in a long line to come. And right or wrong, for better or worse. He made the one he was comfortable with. That leaves no room for anyone to question.