73-year-old veteran Joe Koblenzer had been working at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Venice, Florida for the past three-and-a-half years and was recently fired for giving a free corn muffin to a homeless man who looked needy.
According to Koblenzer, the homeless man came into the restaurant asking for tartar sauce and ketchup to put on some fish, and Koblenzer kindly gave him a bag with condiments and a surprise muffin inside. Afterwards, the general manager took him aside and fired him.
According to Cracker Barrel management, this was Koblenzer's fifth time taking free food from the restaurant, which is against policy. These infractions, however, were minor and may have been misunderstandings. He was once written up for grabbing a fountain drink on the job, and another writeup said he gave a woman a free coffee (though Koblenzer says he paid for it out of pocket).
Cracker Barrel may be within their rights to fire Koblenzer, but they should be more compassionate. Koblenzer's intentions, age and time working for Cracker Barrel should be taken into account. His friendliness could have brought in more customers, and he would surely reimburse the company for the corn muffin if he hadn't paid for it already. Please sign the petition to urge Cracker Barrel to give Joe Koblenzer his job back!
As you know, 73-year-old veteran Joe Koblenzer had been working at your Cracker Barrel for the past three-and-a-half years and was recently fired for giving a free corn muffin to a homeless man.
According to Koblenzer, the homeless man came into the restaurant asking for tartar sauce and ketchup to put on some fish, and Koblenzer kindly gave him a bag with condiments and a surprise muffin inside. Afterwards, the general manager took him aside and fired him.
We understand that this was Koblenzer's fifth time taking free food from the restaurant, which is against your policy. However, we believe these infractions were minor and may have been misunderstandings. For example, he was once written up for grabbing a fountain drink on the job, and another writeup said he gave a woman a free coffee (though Koblenzer says he paid for it out of pocket).
We know that you are within your rights to fire Koblenzer, but we believe you should consider being more compassionate. Koblenzer's intentions, age and time working for Cracker Barrel should be taken into account. His friendliness could have brought in more customers, and he would surely reimburse the company for the corn muffin if he hadn't paid for it already. We respectfully urge you to give Joe Koblenzer his job back. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider our petition.
