As far as supermarket line of work are relate , working at Trader Joe ’s seems like an unquestionably solid gig . You get welfare and a competitive hourly wage , while managing director clad in Hawaiian shirts dole out smiles and profitableness . The company ’s small vicinity feel and specialness products have helped it balloon from a humble southern California ship’s company into a national behemoth .
But , as a recently published exposé inThe New York Timessuggests , the company ’s report for offering a “ wow customer experience ” is often prized above its rank and lodge employee , who complain of a toxic surroundings created by managers for thenotoriously secretive company .
The focal point of this story is Thomas Nagle , a longtime employee of a Manhattan Trader Joe ’s store . Nagle was fired , ostensibly for having a smiling that was n’t “ literal ” enough to fulfill his foreman .
Mike Mozart/Flickr Creative Commons
Behind the cheery veneer at Trader Joe ’s , according to Nagle , was a pretty repressive surroundings . He told theTimesthat he and his fellow employees were often forbidden from speaking to each other during certain times of their shifts , and that sealed managers were domineering . He told theTimeshe was chastised for return a sweatshirt to his locker after fetch up a occupation in the deep freezer .
“ If anyone ’s confused , there ’s no product to shape in the locker room , ” his director reportedly said .
Other Trader Joe ’s employees across the Northeast and Middle Atlantic regions reverberate Nagle ’s experiences . Just at Nagle ’s storage , though , one coworker earned a reprimand for sip water while wreak the cash cash register , while others from time to time become sick from fume wafting through the store .
Nagle supplied all of this information to theTimesby recording his performance reviews with managers . Incredibly , the crux of them centered on Nagle ’s grinning , and whether or not it masked a dirty attitude . “ I do n’t remember the last time I ’ve seen you care genuinely smile , ” a manager told Nagle .
Rather than just drag through the mud TJ ’s , however , Nagle ’s claims have implications : on Thursday he filed a suit with the National Labor Relations Board alleging unjust labor practices . allot to the Times , many experts say denying employee the right field to talk over working conditions with each other and the public is a rupture of Union policy .
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Sam Blum is a News Staff Writer for Thrillist . He ’s also a soldierlike arts and euphony swot who appreciates a fine sandwich and cute dogs . Find his clips in The Guardian , Rolling Stone , The A.V. Club and Vice . He ’s on Twitter@Blumnessmonster .
