I worked at Applebees for two years and just recently got the courage to quit. The entire time I was there, I worked under management who refused to fire ANYONE. And i mean anyone. One coworker cussed out customers and only got fired the fourth time he did. Another was verbally abusive to a manager in the dining room during open hours and got off with a warning. Management told me multiple times the behavior of abusive coworkers was unacceptable but refused to fire anyone or make any changes to their schedule. Instead, I lost hours and was punished for speaking up. There were multiple incidences in which adult male coworkers were inappropriate with other girls, often MINORS, who they worked with and management made no effort to investigate the situation or to support said girls, and were fully aware of what was happening. There was a constant, obvious power hierarchy in the restaurant in which a handful of waiters/waitresses with seniority had power over management because management refused to take ANY disciplinary action against them. This gave those waitresses the freedom to bully any or all coworkers, which they took full and constant advantage of. One waitress in particular received constant complaints from customers both verbally, to management, or in reviews to higher-ups or online. This waitress is still employed there with zero repercussions besides a “warning”. Working here gave me experience and life lessons I didn’t need. This job ruined my mental health due to constant bullying from abusive coworkers and inappropriate harassment from male coworkers for two years. Had I not been a minor for the majority of my employment, I might have realized sooner how abusive the work environment was, but I didn’t until I started at a job elsewhere and realized the behavior at Applebees isn’t normal. Obviously, this varies from franchise to franchise, but I honest-to-god wouldn’t wish this job on anyone.
