Applebee's Workers Walk Out After 'Atrocious' Email Leaks

Exec at franchise firm said rising gas prices would turn the labor market in their favor
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 30, 2022 2:41 PM CDT
'Atrocious' Email Was Last Straw for Applebee's Workers
Pankrantz also advised franchise owners to provide schedules early because many employees would need to take second jobs.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

An Applebee's franchise exec who said inflation could be great for business if it made employees desperate enough to work longer hours and accept lower wages is now out of a job. The email from Wayne Pankratz, who worked at a franchise group that runs dozens of restaurants, caused a mass walkout at a Lawrence, Kansas, restaurant after it was leaked earlier this month, Vice reports. "The labor market is about to turn in our favor," Pankratz wrote in the March 9 email, explaining that most employees and potential employees "live paycheck to paycheck" and would be hit hard by rising gas prices, forcing them to work more hours to "maintain their current level of living."

Pankratz said inflation would "increase application flow and has the potential to lower our average wage," since competitors dealing with higher costs would not be able to offer higher wages, per the Lawrence Journal-World. Jake Holcomb, a former manager at the Lawrence restaurant, tells Vice that when he saw the email, he quit on the spot and printed out dozens of copies, leaving them around the restaurant before walking out. Many other employees followed, including bartender Adrian Kelley, who says that with workers already feeling unappreciated and overworked, the email was "so atrocious that it kind of just tipped everyone over the edge."

Pankratz sent the email to other execs at franchise owner Apple Central, a subsidiary of AFC Brands. Kevin Carroll, chief operations officer at Applebee's, says the email was "the opinion of an individual, not Applebee's." "The individual has been terminated by the franchisee who owns and operates the restaurants in this market," said Carroll said in a statement to CBS, adding that employees "are the lifeblood of our restaurants, and our franchisees are always looking to reward and incentivize team members." (More Applebee's stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X