Local IHOP Discriminates against US Armed Services Personnel
My 18 Yr old son has talked about joining the military for a couple of years now. Being from a long line of Combat Vets I have been supportive in this. He ultimately made a choice to join the US Army reserves. This morning he left at 4:30 to complete processing at the MEPS station hear in Houston.
So you ask what this has got to do with IHOP and being discriminate well let me tell you. My son has been working for IHOP and had been working on Sunday till 12:00 Midnight. He called his Mrg to inform him that he would need to make arrangements to get off work a couple of hours early. This was so he can make an early morning time for his MEPS processing. This decision was made by his recruiter Saturday afternoon and was necessary to lock in a quickly fading slot for duty here in Houston. Once he informed his Mgr that he was joining and asked to get off early his Mgr then informed him he was fired. The reason his mgr gave was is that they needed people they could count on to be available to work and that his reserve commitment would interfere with work.
My son came to talk to me and the first thing he said was that his Mgr fired him because he joined the reserves. I asked him about this and if it was something else, maybe he misunderstood. I asked him your Mrg fired you because you joined the Army his replied was Yes. I asked again your Mrg told you he was firing you because you joining up his replied again was Yes he told me I was fired because I joined the Reserves.
This upset me given my families long history of military service. I drove to my sons employment and spoke to the Mrg. The Mgr claimed he wasnt meeting his expectations. I asked just what expectations he wasnt meeting. The Mrg replied well he does work very well with customers but he just isnt meeting my expectations. I asked him for specifics and he just him hawed around and then said well he hasnt been working here very long and just wasnt meeting expectations. I asked again what he meant by not meeting expectations and asked for specifics. He refused to give any details or examples of how he wasnt meeting expectations. My son didnt have any complaints about his work prior to this and only after the phone call informing his Mgr about his status is when his performance became a problem. I asked for him (the Mgr) to provide me with the name of the store owner which he started to do but then refused to give me any contact info. I called back the next day to gather some info and they wouldnt even give me the Mgrs last name.
We have informed his recruiter on this and he will assist in filing a complaint against this store. I also plan on sending email to a couple of the TV News and Radio stations here in Houston. As a side note my Son did call Ch 11 here and they mentioned that this was not the first time they had heard of an issue like this at IHOP. I dont know if any one will run a story but I at least will inform them. I also plan on contacting the Local VFWs in the area. I would also ask that people support our troops by NOT EATING at your Local IHOP as well.
The National Guard and Reserves are there when our country calls on them. You may not support the current actions but dont forget they also respond to times of National or State emergency such as during the 911 attack, the Shuttle disaster or after an area has been hit by some natural disaster such as flood or tornado. The least we can do is support them by providing the occasional time off they need to train or meet commitments.
My 18 Yr old son has talked about joining the military for a couple of years now. Being from a long line of Combat Vets I have been supportive in this. He ultimately made a choice to join the US Army reserves. This morning he left at 4:30 to complete processing at the MEPS station hear in Houston.
So you ask what this has got to do with IHOP and being discriminate well let me tell you. My son has been working for IHOP and had been working on Sunday till 12:00 Midnight. He called his Mrg to inform him that he would need to make arrangements to get off work a couple of hours early. This was so he can make an early morning time for his MEPS processing. This decision was made by his recruiter Saturday afternoon and was necessary to lock in a quickly fading slot for duty here in Houston. Once he informed his Mgr that he was joining and asked to get off early his Mgr then informed him he was fired. The reason his mgr gave was is that they needed people they could count on to be available to work and that his reserve commitment would interfere with work.
My son came to talk to me and the first thing he said was that his Mgr fired him because he joined the reserves. I asked him about this and if it was something else, maybe he misunderstood. I asked him your Mrg fired you because you joined the Army his replied was Yes. I asked again your Mrg told you he was firing you because you joining up his replied again was Yes he told me I was fired because I joined the Reserves.
This upset me given my families long history of military service. I drove to my sons employment and spoke to the Mrg. The Mgr claimed he wasnt meeting his expectations. I asked just what expectations he wasnt meeting. The Mrg replied well he does work very well with customers but he just isnt meeting my expectations. I asked him for specifics and he just him hawed around and then said well he hasnt been working here very long and just wasnt meeting expectations. I asked again what he meant by not meeting expectations and asked for specifics. He refused to give any details or examples of how he wasnt meeting expectations. My son didnt have any complaints about his work prior to this and only after the phone call informing his Mgr about his status is when his performance became a problem. I asked for him (the Mgr) to provide me with the name of the store owner which he started to do but then refused to give me any contact info. I called back the next day to gather some info and they wouldnt even give me the Mgrs last name.
We have informed his recruiter on this and he will assist in filing a complaint against this store. I also plan on sending email to a couple of the TV News and Radio stations here in Houston. As a side note my Son did call Ch 11 here and they mentioned that this was not the first time they had heard of an issue like this at IHOP. I dont know if any one will run a story but I at least will inform them. I also plan on contacting the Local VFWs in the area. I would also ask that people support our troops by NOT EATING at your Local IHOP as well.
The National Guard and Reserves are there when our country calls on them. You may not support the current actions but dont forget they also respond to times of National or State emergency such as during the 911 attack, the Shuttle disaster or after an area has been hit by some natural disaster such as flood or tornado. The least we can do is support them by providing the occasional time off they need to train or meet commitments.
