An update on one of 2023's Worst Employers

Q: What do you win for coming in 6th place in 2023's Worst Employer contest?

A: 20 years in federal prison.

That's what Stavros Papantoniadis, the owner of Stash’s Pizza, is potentially facing after a jury convicted him on three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor.

Announcing 2023’s Worst Employer

The votes have been counted. The WINNER of The Worst Employer of 2023 is...

🏆 The Child Labor Abuser 🏆

VOTE for the Worst Employer of 2023

It's the most wonderful time of the year. I've made my list. I've checked it twice. Now it's time to find out who's naughtiest and not very nice. It's voting time for The Worst Employer of 2023.

I've culled my list of 10 nominees down to the worst 7 as finalists. 

The 10th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the jack(a$$) in the box

The EEOC recently filed a lawsuit against a Jack in the Box restaurant owned and operated by Eastbox LLC, alleging sexual harassment against teen and young adult female employees. 

The allegations are horrific. 

The 9th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the cake boss

Telling an employee to "Eat a Dick" won't earn you a nomination for the Worst Employer of 2023. 

Writing "Eat a Dick" on the inside lid of a box holding a penis-shaped cake you have delivered to an employee won't even earn you a nomination for the Worst Employer of 2023. 

But doing so when you're the company's HR manager? That will earn you a well-deserved nomination to this year's list.

The 8th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the head hunter

If you work for the Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois (a non-profit organization dedicated to the procurement, preparation, and preservation of donations for medical and scientific study), body parts are an unfortunate occupational hazard. If, however, you lodge complaints with your supervisors about the "mishandling and poor conditions" of donated bodies, and then find three dismembered heads waiting for you at your desk … that occupational hazard becomes retaliation.

The 7th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the pretend priest

"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. Twice I asked a co-worker to punch my time card to cover my tardiness; once I called off sick when I was really playing golf; and I spoke to a Department of Labor investigator about my belief that I haven't be paid correctly."

Pursuant to a consent judgment with the Department of Labor, Che Garibaldi Inc., the operator of Taqueria Garibaldi, has agreed to pay $140,000 in back wages and damages to 35 employees based on claims that the employer used a fake priest to coerce confessions from employees and then used that information to retaliate against them.

The 6th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the defecation denier

“Joshua Amin alleges that he was denied a bathroom break by his supervisor at UPS warehouse until he was forced to defecate on himself at his workstation.”

This really happened … or at least Amin claims in his lawsuit that it did.

According to Amin, he was ill and needed to use the restroom ASAP, which a supervisor approved. On the way, he ran into division manager Sergio Castro, who told him that he had already used his break and that he needed to get back to work. After Amin explained his situation, Castro threatened to “walk him out right now” if Amin didn’t return to his workstation.

After Amin complied, Castro followed and taunted him, saying, “I guess if you got to go … you can use [the restroom] right here, where you are.” That is exactly what Amin did. Castro then yelled out that if Amin’s coworkers needed to use the restroom outside of their ten-minute break, they could relieve themselves at their station, “just like Josh.” Castro also forced Amin to work in soiled pants for another twenty minutes.

Can we please stop treating employees like children. If someone has to go the bathroom you let them go to the bathroom. You don’t bully them into soiling their pants and further bully them about it after the fact. This behavior is inexcusable, and it’s why this is my 6th nominee for the Worst Employer of 2023.

The 5th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the dog dumper

"You can only keep one, your current job or your family pet; which do you choose?" Most would choose the family pet. Which is why it’s so appalling that Clearlink CEO James Clarke used the example of an employee who sold his family dog to enable his return to the working from the office as a sterling example of the type of work ethic expected of all of his employees.

The 4th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the pizza shop pressurizer

Allegations of forced labor and the physical abuse of employees will always land you on my Worst Employer list.

Last week the feds arrested Stavros Papantoniadis, a/k/a Steve Papantoniadis, the owner of Stash's Pizza, on charges of forced labor related to his employment of an undocumented worker and forcing him to work for more than decade through threats of deportation coupled with physical and verbal abuse. 

The 3rd nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the awful accommodator

You'd think a nonprofit that provides programs for people with disabilities to build self-reliance through employment services would know a thing or two about the ADA's requirements for reasonable accommodations.

Then there's Innovative Services NW, which the EEOC just sued for it's failure to accommodate a janitor suffering from a degenerative hip disorder. He had asked for a stand-up vacuum to push instead of a backpack vacuum to wear. Not only did ISNW not accommodate him, but it also fired him for his inability to wear that backpack vacuum.

The 2nd nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the child labor abuser

According to the Department of Labor, Packers Sanitation Services, the country's largest food safety sanitation services, employed at least 102 children — ranging in age from 13 to 17 — in hazardous occupations in meat processing facilities across eight states.

The hazardous conditions to which Packer required the children to be exposed included working with hazardous chemicals and cleaning meat processing equipment including back saws, brisket saws and head splitters. At least three of the children suffered injuries while illegally working for Packer.

The 1st nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the foul-mouthed retaliator

"I'm going to fire all the motherf---ers!" 

That's the threat Department of Labor accused Tamesha Porter, the sole owner and operator of Safe Haven Assisted Living of Haslett, of making to her employees after the Department of Labor started investigating its wage and hour practices.