The Advocate

GC Restaurant Worker Fired
Administration and Restaurant Associates Defend Dismissal As Students Urge Boycott

Antonia Levy & Dan Skinner

Food services provider Restaurant Associates (RA) officially characterizes itself as a “New York based restaurant group with more than 130 restaurants and high-profile accounts.” One of those accounts is our very own Graduate Center (GC) Dining Commons and 365 Express Café, a relationship established over 20 years ago.
Recently, concern has been raised over the firing of one of RA’s longtime GC employees, Lazeena Gaffoor, known to many students as Liz. Some students, who see her dismissal as emblematic of the firm’s questionable labor practices, have gone so far as to call for a boycott of the Dining Commons and 365 Express until Ms. Gaffoor is reinstated. RA and the GC administration, on the other hand, claim that the firing was justified and reasonable.

Perspectives on the Dismissal

On September 15, 2004, Ms. Gaffoor finished her lunch break and was subsequently fired by local RA manager Charles Hunter. After being asked to collect her belongings, CUNY security personnel were called at the request of RA management to escort her off the premises. She was given notice not to enter the GC for 30 days.

Ms. Gaffoor, a mother of three who is currently going through a divorce, was employed by RA at the GC for about 14 years, most of that time as a register operator. According to Ms. Gaffoor, she had been late “a few times,” mainly because she had to wait at home until a babysitter arrived to care for her children. Ms. Gaffoor says that she would normally compensate by staying late, an arrangement she had made with her previous manager to accommodate her responsibilities as a mother.
About one year ago, Mr. Hunter arrived at the GC as the new manager, and Ms. Gaffoor reports that her work situation changed abruptly. In June 2004, when she took two of her allotted three weeks of vacation, she was called back to work four days early, a request Ms. Gaffoor accommodated. In September, however, according to Ms. Gaffoor, Mr. Hunter again called her back early from her vacation, but this time she refused. Ms. Gaffoor says she told Mr. Hunter: “I am not going to work during my vacation anymore.”

According to Ms. Gaffoor, her tardiness was met “with one verbal warning,” although RA claims that Ms. Gaffoor was warned on several occasions. After returning from her vacation in September, management informed her that she was being demoted, and she was subsequently reassigned from her former position in RA office to the registers in the Dining Commons. According to Ms. Gaffoor, another employee had already been moved into her former position in the office while she was on vacation. The demotion was accompanied by a 30-day probation period, during which she was not allowed to be late or to take days off. Shortly after this warning, Ms. Gaffoor says that she encountered scheduling problems with her babysitter and, after leaving a voicemail message for Mr. Hunter early that morning, arrived to work 45 minutes late.

That day, Ms. Gaffoor was fired, escorted to her locker to retrieve her things and walked out of the building by CUNY security. Ms. Gaffoor says that she was humiliated by the involvement of security in her situation, and claims that she did not argue with her manager that day, as she was “under shock.” Some members of the GC community who witnessed the situation, including security personnel, say that they thought Ms. Gaffoor did not pose a threat, but asked that they not be identified in this article.

RA Human Resources Manager, Sherley Montina, on the other hand, claims that CUNY security became involved in the case when, after consultation with RA, “it became apparent that there was a security concern” and that precautionary steps needed to be taken. According to Ms. Montina, in coordination with GC security, “a threat was assessed,” although Ms. Montina says that further details cannot be provided due to privacy concerns. According to Vice President for Finance and Administration Sebastian Persico, CUNY personnel is responsible for all security concerns in the building regardless of who they are. However, some students have expressed discomfort with the idea that CUNY security can be used in the service of private corporations.

Although Ms. Gaffoor acknowledges that she was late, she believes that her firing was a largely personal matter. She claims that she had several confrontations with Mr. Hunter in the weeks leading up to her firing, and that Mr. Hunter had assigned her additional duties that she says she could not handle. Thus, she feels that her tardiness was used as an excuse to terminate her.

RA claims that the facts do not bear out Ms. Gaffoor’s claims, however, noting that Ms. Gaffoor was given ample warning and a clearly demarcated period of probation. RA notes additionally that it is not in their interest to fire employees who do good work. Regarding the firing, RA issued the following statement:

“The decision to end someone’s employment is never one that we take lightly. There are certain policies which must be followed by all employees, irrespective of their length of service, so that we can provide the high level of service our clients require. When there are violations of such policies, we utilize a policy of progressive corrective communication.

“We believe that the termination of Ms. Gaffoor’s employment was just and proper in accordance with the policies set by the company.”

Last month, Pellegrino Luciano, a PhD student in anthropology and friend of Liz’s, learned of the firing and began to circulate information throughout the building. A few days later, he called for a boycott of the Dining Commons and 365 Express—a call that seems to have generated little response from students. Mr. Luciano sent around an email to draw attention to the firing, claiming that Ms. Laffoor “was never given any warning” and additionally claiming that “rumor has it that the manager who fired Liz hired his sister to replace her,” a suggestion that has since been proven to be false. According to Mr. Luciano, “[Liz] was an excellent employee who always made us smile when we came through the line.”

Mr. Luciano brought the issue to President Horowitz’s attention at the October GC community meeting. This prompted her to assign Vice President Persico to seek information about the incident from RA. President Horowitz then addressed at the last DSC plenary by indicating that according to her information, Ms. Gaffoor was terminated for “just and proper cause.”

Vice President Persico admits that in his investigation, he did not speak to Ms. Gaffoor personally and that his information was solely based on discussions with RA. Ms. Montina responded to an inquiry from The Advocate about Ms. Gaffoor’s firing but says she cannot release any specific information due to privacy concerns.

According to RA, in cases of dispute the management “tries to work with employees” by developing an “action plan” to help employees correct their behavior to conform to management’s objectives. In Ms. Gaffoor’s case, Mr. Hunter determined that, according to her behavior, her action plan would not succeed and, after “following proper procedure,” she was terminated.

Antonia Levy is a student in the PhD program in Sociology.