Entire staff at California bagel shop quits in protest: ‘We’re not disposable’

“Say no to toxic management,” a video that has racked up over 5 million views in three days declares. The video capturing an entire staff of workers at a California bagel shop quitting in protest of the firing of a general manager has gone viral on TikTok since its posting.

Eighteen employees at Noah’s New York Bagels in Vacaville, California, planned their exodus in support of their general manager, Bre Kowalski, TikTok user Beonce Sarmiento says.

“When the whole team pulls up on the same day to quit,” the 10-second TikTok reads.

Sarmiento has been chronicling the staff’s journey since their manager was fired and explaining why the entire staff decided to quit after several complaints of mistreatment from higher-ups.

Kowalski told KCRA 3 that the West Coast company told her she was suspended due to a customer complaint, then fired her without proper notification. She says there was no customer complaint, KCRA 3 reported, and she never asked the rest of the staff to quit in protest.

“We take the treatment of our team members very seriously and are looking into this matter. As an organization, we pride ourselves on providing a rewarding work experience for all our team members as we seek to provide the best possible experience for our guests,” Noah’s Bagels told the news outlet in a statement.

Sarmiento says the company treated its employees like they were easily replaceable and did not take their manager seriously when she came to them with complaints of customers mistreating the staff.

“We’re not replaceable,” Sarmiento told KCRA 3. “We’re not disposable and you can’t just fire somebody and not let them know.”

In follow-up videos, Sarmiento says her bosses told her and her coworkers that Kowalski failed to communicate properly with higher-ups, and she did not open up the store on time.

Sarmiento disputes this and says Kowalski was ignored by her bosses when she asked for help specifically handling customers who said they had COVID-19.

This combined with other issues with high-ups, Sarmiento says, led to the entire team quitting.

“We’re a team,” she said in the video. “We’re … near a family at this point.”

Positions for bakers, team members and team leaders are open on the Noah’s Bagels website.

Vacaville is about 35 miles southwest of Sacramento.

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