Employees in Baltimore's Fells Point say they were fired for protesting co-worker's dismissal

CBS News

4 hours ago

More than half a dozen workers at a popular Fells Point restaurant say they were fired after protesting working conditions this past weekend.
Several concerned employees at Bunny's Buckets and Bubbles organized a protest after they said a co-worker was abruptly fired for refusing to take off a pro-Palestine pin.
Sydney Browne says she was off the clock Sunday when she protested on behalf of her former co-worker whom she believes was fired.
Bunny's Buckets and Bubbles said on social media that it doesn't allow political, religious, or divisive attire at work, and it wants to promote an inclusive workplace.
"It was OK to just be who you wanted to be, because it was Bunny's, and everybody was welcome," Browne said. "And then in a matter of days, that all just kind of crumbled and fell apart."
According to a social media post by the restaurant, a customer complained about a staff member wearing a Pro-Palestine pin with their uniform. The customer claimed it was impacting their dining experience.
When asked to remove it, Bunny's says that the employee did and continued working. A week later, another employee, wearing a Palestinian pin, was asked to do the same, but refused.
The restaurant says that the employee quit, but former co-workers say the employee was fired.
Sydney Browne says the restaurant didn't have a dress code before the incident, allowing employees to wear pins supporting Pride. That changed after an optional meeting the next day.
"The meeting in which it was discussed with an optional meeting where less than a third of employees were even present, where this new dress code was announced and things were explained," Browne said.
Then, some employees protested in support of their former coworker on Sunday.
Browne says she went after her shift and not in company clothes. She was fired the next day.
"The vast majority of people who were fired were off the clock, and the people who did walk off the job who were on the clock, some of them still have jobs," Browne said. "There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to who was fired and who was not," Browne said.
Labor attorney Howard Hoffman isn't involved in the fallout at Bunny's but calls the case complicated.
Hoffman says the workers who wore pins and refused to remove them have fewer rights than those allegedly fired for protesting.
"Any employee that's been fired for wearing a pro-Palestinian badge or pin is going to have to show that it… that that badge or pin has some connection to the terms and conditions of employment in order to be protected," Hoffman said. "That secondary act of protest… I would say that that appears to be plausibly protected by the National Labor Relations Act."
WJZ was at Bunny's as a former customer walked by, reading the sign on the restaurant's door saying it was closed for the day. She says she refuses to eat at Bunny's because it has supported Israel in the past.
"I will be boycotting," said Catherine, who preferred to go by her first name in this story. "To fire employees who are speaking up about that again, they are allowed to make those decisions, and the fact that they do have that double standard, I personally do not support any organizations that fund Israel's genocidal behavior."
Bunny's is regularly open on Tuesday, but it was closed Aug. 19.
Browne said that if she's offered her job back, she won't return.
"I don't feel safe working there anymore," Browne said. "Because ownership has shown us that they don't care about us like we thought that they did."
Browne told WJZ that she isn't sure what comes next for her and her co-workers who were fired, and she isn't sure if she will pursue legal action.