Update, 2/23: Ashley general manager Memet Yildirim flatly denies Hall’s account of what occurred last Friday that he told her to open the door “or else.” He said he asked her politely and she refused, so he told her to go home for the day. “I never used those words [and] I never said, ‘You’re fired,” he said.
Yildirim said the store has around 70 employees, and if even a few of them were being treated badly, “I would quit my job today.” Ashely workers are part of a union, and Yildirim said the store has heard no complaints from the union about any unhappy workers.
Regarding the cold temperatures, Yildirim acknowledged it was a concern. He said the back door has now been fixed and that over the summer, the store plans to change all the heating systems and possibly add heating to certain colder areas. “For next year we will not have this problem,” he said.
An employee at Ashley Market in South Orange claimed she was fired after complaining to management about the store’s bitterly cold temperatures, which she said forced cashiers to don winter coats and hats to stay warm during their nine-hour shifts.
However, the store’s management disputes that the employee was terminated and says she was just asked to leave for the day. In addition, they say they are actively working to rectify the temperature situation.
It all apparently stemmed from a broken automatic door, which management propped open on Friday with a case of water so customers — especially the elderly — could easily leave the store with their carts without having to open the door. (The door is one of two in the back of the store.) Cashier Sara Hall said it was the last straw for her, after frigid working conditions had become unbearable for employees during two cold winters.
She removed the case of water to let the door close. The general manager, Memet Yildirim, allegedly told Hall she didn’t have the authority to move it. “I told him it wasn’t an issue of that, it was an issue of unsafe working conditions and brutal cold…he said I better do it ‘or else.'” Hall refused, and said that Yildirim allegedly told her to punch out and leave the store.
Hall posted about her experience on the private Facebook group Swap/SOMa Lounge, where it attracted a flurry of responses from people, some aghast at the manager’s response and others cautioning there are two sides to every story.
Meanwhile, Bob Zuckerman and Ben Salmon, Executive Director and Vice Chair, respectively, of the South Orange Village Center Alliance (SOVCA), were alerted to the post and spoke to Yildirim, who said the door is in the process of being fixed and should be fully operational by early next week.
In addition, “[We] are now in contact with the [store] owner via email and hopefully we will begin to correct the situation,” Zuckerman told Village Green on Saturday.
Zuckerman was first alerted to the temperature problem by Village Green, which received an email from a concerned reader on February 11. Noting the cold and seeing the cashiers dressed in “full winter gear,” she asked to speak to a manager. “…he climbed up to check the thermostat and he said it read 83 degrees. He said he would raise it. I said I was concerned about his employees.”
An assistant manager then explained to Zuckerman about the thermostat issue. Later, after learning about Hall’s situation, Zuckerman met with Yildirim, who explained that they were waiting for parts to fix the door. Zuckerman asked him to post a sign letting customers know it was being repaired and to ask a cashier if they needed help opening it in the interim.
Hall said while she can’t speak to the thermostat problem “it’s been their excuse for cold temperatures now in the two winters I’ve been there.” Management also recently provided cashiers with space heaters, though Hall claimed “they only do enough to keep your fingertips from solidly freezing over.”
Regarding Hall, Zuckerman said Yildirim told him that she was not fired, but rather was told to leave for the day. Hall refuted this. “All of my shifts have already been covered and reassigned to other people,” she said. “I was told to get out and not come back.”
Village Green has attempted several times to reach Yildirim and will update this article with his comments.
On Ashley’s Facebook page, several posted comments in support of Hall.
No employee should have to work under those conditions which could potentially affect their health. This young girl who stood up is an exemplary employee and should be given her job back and given a raise. If listened to, she could be a great asset to your company.
I am so sorry to hear of the way management treats their employees. They are always nice and helpful…I will not be shopping here unless they treat their employees in a humane way.
Two people posted reviews claiming they would no longer shop at Ashley until the temperature issue was rectified. One woman called for the manager to be fired.
However, one poster said she didn’t want to see Ashley shut down, and another said “we need a supermarket in the Village, and the employees need respect and fair, acceptable working conditions.” Another wrote on Swap/SOMa Lounge: “We NEED Ashley Market in the Village [but] we don’t need…an employer that disrespects his/her employees.”
The space had long been vacant before it became Eden Market in 2008. In January of 2013, the store changed ownership and was renamed Ashley Market.
Hall said she would consider returning to the store, if management apologized to her and fixed the temperature problems. “I really would like to see things change in terms of how people are treated,” she said.
