Sandwich Chain CEO Apologizes for Firing Staff Right Before Christmas

An executive at the Snarf's sandwich chain has apologized for firing the entire staff of one Chicago location just days before Christmas so they could "reconcept." Posting to the company's Facebook page, CEO/owner Jim Seidel calls the decision to send a mass email firing employees this past weekend "insensitive and poorly planned," and adds that "we acted rashly." He also writes that the employees who got sacked will be receiving an additional week of wages. (Some Snarf's workers had recently participated in a protest to receive higher wages.)

Chicago Grid has a copy of the email that the terminated employees received this weekend, which informed them that as of Monday, December 23 the restaurant would be closed and their positions eliminated. Not only were the employees fired over email, but in the very same message they were encouraged to "Keep an eye out for the grand opening of the new store." Cool.

Of course, this isn't the first time a restaurant has gotten rid of its entire staff via email. In one of the biggest restaurant industry scandals of the year, one of Sacramento's buzziest restaurants pulled a similar move, laying off the staff via a mass email and closing the restaurant.

· Snarf's Sandwiches [Facebook via CBS Chicago]
· Snarf's Just Laid Off All Its Employees Via Email [CG via Gawker]
· All Scandals on Eater [-E-]