Happy Joe's Employees Kicked to Curb, With No Pay!

Hello, my name is Teagan Englert, I was the General Manager of a Franchise Happy Joe's here in Hiawatha, Iowa. I am here to raise money for my coworkers, spouse, and myself. We recently all lost our jobs due to no fault of our own. We were blindsided by the owner.

On September 5th, I received a call from the owner, requesting my husband(manager) and I arrive to the store as soon as possible. Ten minutes later we arrived and met with the other manager that was scheduled to be there. All three of us walked in together for the announcement...

"I have to shut down the store. We haven't been making enough money for the past 8 months. I appreciate your hard work, the store pretty much ran itself with you guys working here. I need your keys, I'm sorry." Also mentioning that he'd appreciate us not saying anything on social media.

As it sunk in, I realized we needed to call the rest of our coworkers immediately. We went to the system to retrieve their phone numbers, but all the computers were unplugged, face down, and the phones were off. He had no intention of calling the staff that faithfully ran his store, doing everything asked of them. Instead, the three of us that were just given devastating news, had to call them to inform them we no longer had jobs. I made one employee call... once I said it out loud, it hit me how real this was. I ran to the bathroom to break down. The other two managers made the rest of those phone calls.

Next I had to collect all my things. All thirty plants, coffee machine, 55 gallon fish tank, etc... My husband and I had to load/unload my SUV four times. We had my things out within ten hours, fearing the locks may be changed at any moment. We were in such a rush, some of my items were left behind. But at that point you realize the items don't matter, your whole world was just flipped upside down.

During the time spent loading/unloading my vehicle, our minds were racing. The fact the owner had 8 MONTHS to see numbers declining. Proceeding to order dough making supplies/equipment in May, in the amount of over $7600, 4 months before closure. He had time to prepare himself and his family at least a little. We weren't even given a minutes notice. We could have had jobs lined up, our resumes ready, money saved up, anything... Or we could have closed the store during our slower hours.

I whole heartedly believe at least 90% of my staff would have stuck it out had they been given the proper warning. I know I would have . We are left to assume that had the owner given proper warning, it wouldn't have benefited him as much as an "unexpected" closure. Employees are required for most employment anywhere to give a two weeks notice... You would think the same respect would have been given to us.

This closure has affected and continues to take a toll on all of us. In this economy, some of us were already living paycheck to paycheck, so you can only imagine losing your job unexpectedly, then later finding out all the hours you worked would not be paid. I don't feel comfortable speaking on anyone else's mental health journey through this, so I will explain mine a little.

I lost ten pounds in a week. Losing all interest in food, and any food my husband could get me to eat, likely didn't stay in my system long enough to benefit me much. Sleep was and still is my only escape. Not only am I worried about the boat my husband and I are in, by putting our eggs in the same basket. I also feel like I let my entire staff down. What were the signs, how did I miss it? The only sign I can think of was the owner throwing away his Top Gun Happy Joe's Awards on July 31st of this year.

This was just my experience. There are ten of us at the Hiawatha store, and about thirteen others from the North Liberty store that are going through this, affecting us all in different ways. Some of the employees working for the owner's companies have young children, medical expenses, elderly pets that require medications, debt, car maintenance needs, and just the cost of living.

You cannot ask for our silence on social media, then not have the funds to pay us the hours we devoted to your companies. Resulting with us going to the news. The owner's statement, "The two Happy Joe's locations owned by my companies continued to operate hoping the economy in the area would improve. Unfortunately this didn't happen and the two stores were forced to close. I'm sure it is of little comfort to the former employees; however, the companies have also not paid me during this time." -Gabe Bark

My response... So YOUR companies didn't pay YOU!? That sounds like a you problem. As you had to have known the ship was sinking and you decided it would benefit you best to have us all go down with it. You allowed us to work through Labor Day, which were decent sales due to the holiday. It's unfortunate because you were a decent boss over the past 15 years, that's why I am dumbfounded by the way you have treated all of your staff during this time.

So, our goal is to raise $13,000 to cover wages robbed from us. This GoFundMe just covers the Hiawatha location.

North Liberty location will have a separate GoFundMe.

All we want is pay for the hours worked. But here we are having to rely on the kindness of our community. I will NOT have the past 15 years end in a way like this, fully out of my control. With employees not getting paid for their hard work and dedication. I'm bringing this to an end my way. I am asking for donations so we can afford to pay our bills and continue our lives. Giving us a fighting chance.

In advance, thank you for any donations, of any amount. The funds with go directly to employees as soon as they become available. If you're unable to donate, please share. Lets try to end this on a HAPPY note.

Corporate promised a donation and had the idea to start this GoFundMe. They said they would start our donations off with a $1000 donation. It has been a week and no donation has arrived from them. Apparently the story typed above is too negative... yea, you think? Our whole lives have been flipped upside down!