A Carrabba’s Italian Grill worker (@briaisapegasuss) has gone viral after claiming she was fired because she stepped outside.
In the clip, which has amassed 734,000 views, Bri says, “I got fired from my job last night because I went outside to take a break and the manager said verbatim, ‘You will not take a break if you’re working the same shift as me,’ and I said, ‘OK.’”
She then stitched this clip with a short follow-up, explaining that her district manager reached out to her and told her she was suspended rather than fired. Then, in a second, longer follow-up video, Bri shares some more details about the incident.
@briaisapegasuss If youre a lawyer in Maryland, your cheap and want an easy case DM me.
♬ original sound – Bri Bri
A 5-minute break turned to suspension
She claims that she was reprimanded by one of the managers for taking a five-minute break four hours into her shift. Purportedly, he interrupted her break after a minute and told her that there would be no breaks while she was on shift.
This, Bri adds, caused tension for the rest of the shift, which boiled over at the end of the night when a more senior manager arrived at the store. Bri claims that she asked this manager if she was allowed to have five-minute breaks, and the manager allowed it. At this point, Bri claims that the previous manager started “going off” and fired her on the spot. She then alleges that a third manager on shift joined the argument and said that if Bri wasn’t fired, she’d quit.
@briaisapegasuss Replying to @TravisATL ♬ original sound – Bri Bri
Bri also alleges that both of those managers were fired from their old workplace for theft, although the Daily Dot was unable to independently verify this. After this incident, Bri says the female manager quit, and the other left his keys behind and didn’t show up to his next shift. Meanwhile, despite her earlier suspension, Bri says she got her job back and is scheduled for more shifts.
“I didn’t have to sue anybody,” she concludes. “Didn’t have to take it there. Praise the Lord. But learn your rights and stop letting these people play in your face.”
Bri didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.
Is it legal to work 7 hours without a break?
Bri later disclosed in the comments that she was working a seven-hour shift in total, and that the Carrabba’s in question was based in Bowie, Maryland.
For retail workers in Maryland, the law dictates that they must have a 15 minute break if they work 4 to 6 hours. Then, if an employee works 8 or more consecutive hours, the employer needs to provide a 30-minute break and an additional 15-minute break for every additional 4 hours worked.
However, there are no such laws for restaurant workers in the state. Furthermore, Maryland restaurant workers work “at the will” of their employers. This means that, in the absence of a contract, workers can be hired and fired at the discretion of their managers, whether the reason is fair or not.
A representative for Carrabba’s didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.
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