http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/entire-staffs-quit-at-sonic-drive-ins-in-ohio/ar-BBUdF9H?ocid=ientpSonic confirmed that employees had walked off their jobs at the three restaurants the night of Friday, Feb. 22, but blamed the impromptu protests on a misunderstanding that spread ahead of a change in ownership on Monday, Feb. 25, from a franchisee to Sonic's operating affiliate, SRI Holdings.
Workers were reportedly led to believe that their hourly wages were being cut to $4 an hour plus tips, which would be a drastic drop from the $8.55 an hour minimum paid to non-tipped workers in Ohio. The minimum for tipped workers in the state is $4.30 an hour.
"Whatever hourly rate they were making last week, they are making this week," a spokesperson for Sonic told CBS MoneyWatch. All Sonic workers in the state earn at least the non-tipped minimum wage, with tips given to car hops at its restaurants coming in addition to that, said the spokesperson, who blamed a disgruntled manager who lost their job in the transition for spreading rumors.
I hope there's more to this. It reads like the employees
believed they'd take a pay cut without seeing anything in writing or waiting to come back to work to see what would happen. That's just - incredibly stupid.