On December 6, KCTV5 published an angrily-worded letter that a manager at an Olive Garden in Overland Park, Kansas, sent out to its employees.
The Grinch was obviously fed up over staffing shortages during the busy holiday season, and her rant centered around the idea that employees have been taking way too much time off.
She even went so far as to threaten to invade employees' personal lives, noting that if a worker uses a "family emergency" as a reason for not showing up, they must disclose details.
This Olive Garden manager got sick and tired of employees taking time off
Image credits: Anthony92931 (not the actual photo)
So she sent out a 300-word threat letter
Image credits: Louis Hansel (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Christin Hume (not the actual photo)
Image credits: jschnell3d
Just two days later, a spokesperson for Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden, confirmed to TODAY that the manager who penned the note is no longer with the company.
"We strive to provide a caring and respectful work environment for our team members," a Darden spokesperson said in the statement. "This message is not aligned with our company's values."
And it probably was the right call. After all, the age-old adage "employees don't quit their jobs, they quit their bosses" still looks to be true. According to a report published by DDI, a global leadership consulting firm that helps companies hire, promote, and develop exceptional leaders, 57 percent of workers have left a job because of their manager.
"Constant criticism, sarcasm, degrading and cruel comments ... ruin morale," executive recruiter Jack Kelly wrote in Forbes. "When a manager routinely belittles your ideas, doesn't hear you out, talks over you, and acts in an aggressive manner, it makes your work-life miserable and, overall, intolerable."
"Our culture puts pressure on people to work long hours and almost always be on call. When your boss pushes you to extremes, it turns into a toxic work environment."
"Some bosses come across [as] unstable—one moment they love you, and the next, they’re yelling at you for something small and innocuous. They take credit for the positive work you've done, but blame you when something doesn’t work out in their favor," Kelly added.
So by getting rid of one bad manager, Olive Garden may have actually saved themselves quite a few employees.
After the email leaked and went viral, people were very appalled by it
