Waiters Say Mr. Chow Is Really Mean!
A pretty nutty complaint has been filed against celebrity restaurateur Michael Chow by three of his employees, claiming abusive management techniques.
Michael Chow demanded cultlike attention when he spoke. One of his frequently used management techniques was to approach a waiter, use two fingers to point at his trademark owl glasses and demand that the waiter make eye contact with him. At staff meetings, Michael Chow often yelled, "Are you with me?" When the waiters responded "Yes Sir!" it inevitable was not with sufficient enthusiasm for Michael Chow, he would continue to scream "Are you with me? Are you with me?" Once the "Yes Sir" was at a fevered pitch, Michael Chow finally moved on to another topic.
That's not soooo crazy—kind of sounds like high school gym class. But then there was some other stuff, which is seriously bananas.
Michael Chow ordered [plaintiff] Dumitrescu to lie on the wooden floor in the middle of the staff meeting. Dumitrescu obeyed Michael Chow's command. He proceeded to lie on his back, on the floor, placing a cloth napkin underneath the back of his head. His coworkers were sitting in a U-shaped arrangement while Dumitrescu was lying on the floor in front of them the middle of the "U". During the ensuing 30 to 40 minutes remaining in the meeting, Michael Chow paced around the middle of the U, discussing restaurant issues such the quotas of different foods the waiters should try to sell in the days ahead. Michael Chow periodically walked up to Dumitrescu as he lay on the floor, and pretended to kick Dumitrescu in order to make Dumitrescu flinch in fear. On a few occasions, Michael Chow actually kicked Dumitrescu while he was lying on the ground, albeit not with full force.
Cloth napkin under his head? Not kicking with full force? Gets to lie down during work? Sounds like Dumitrescu doesn't have a legal leg to stand on! Sounds relaxing actually. —Josh
