ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — An employee who worked at Scarlett O'Hara's Restaurant and Bar until it shut its doors last week said there’s more to the story than the restaurant owners are saying.
"I was a bartender and server," Maria Piskorz worked at Scarlett O'Hara's in St. Augustine for five years.
"I loved it. It was just the people I worked with. Working in downtown. Meeting the tourists." She also knew the regulars.
So when Piskorz found out last week it closed, she was shocked.
"It was completely out of the blue. They gave us no warning," she told First Coast News. "I was still like, 'oh, it happens.' But when they posted that letter on their doors, I was so angry."
The letter by ServStar, the owners of Scarlett’s and Dos Gatos bar next door, said it was closing the businesses for various economic reasons, and that it’s team members are it’s number one priority and that the company is helping them find jobs elsewhere.
Piskorz disagrees with that. "Don’t tell your loyal customers that you’re taking care of your staff and we’re number one. We’re number zero!"
She's upset the staff was not given a heads-up in order to prepare financially.
"Or give us two weeks," she said. "Say, 'in 2 weeks we have to shut the doors.'"
Piskorz said no extra money was offered to help the staff get over the hump.
J. Albertelli, one of the owning partners of ServStar, told First Coast News Monday the company did not give two weeks notice because there was concern the staff would not show up for work. He said the employees are ServStar’s first priority, and the partners felt no one would miss a paycheck because they had contacted other local restaurants about the situation.
Albertelli said if there are Scarlett's or Dos Gatos employees who have not found another job, they should contact ServStar for help.
As for Piskorz, she has picked up another shift at her second job, but she has not fully replaced her lost income.
She said "If you have to shut down, you have to shut down. But don’t do us like this after 5, 10, 25 years. Give us some kind of notice or severance. Nothing was done like that and that’s why I’m mad. Not that they closed. How they closed."