We, the undervalued staff at Rumi's, are writing to formally express the growing concerns we
have about the ongoing issues affecting our workplace environment, the overall operations, and
our well-being as employees. It is with great urgency that we raise these matters in hopes of
creating real and lasting change, because the truth is, the issues stem from the top down.
Managers lack basic compassion and cannot endure the conditions they require us to work
through.
1. Toxic Leadership Culture and Mistreatment of Staff
There is a persistent culture of fear and hostility created by ownership and upper
management--particularly by Ali, who consistently treats his staff as property rather than
people. His leadership has fostered an atmosphere of intimidation, micromanagement, and
disrespect that trickles down through the rest of management. It has become disturbingly
normalized for managers to speak to staff with blatant disrespect, sexually and derogatorily, and
disregard for basic dignity. Staff are treated as disposable and routinely threatened with
termination for minor mistakes or simply falling short of unrealistic expectations.
2. Inhumane Scheduling and Worker Burnout
Scheduling managers, specifically, schedules staff for 60+ hour work weeks with no regard for
personal obligations, physical health, or mental well-being. Servers are often on shifts that run
from 9:30 a.m. until 1:00 a.m., and there is little to no flexibility. Requests for time off or
manageable hours are often denied or ignored. Many of us are students, parents, or
professionals with outside commitments, and our lives are being sacrificed for a serving job that
should not consume us entirely.
3. Unethical Labor Practices and Financial Transparency
Servers are being asked to fill nearly every role in the restaurant--from bussing to hosting to
food running--without receiving minimum wage and while being forced to tip out 30% of
earnings with no transparency on where that money is going and it's unclear and suspicious.
We're demanding clarity on where the money is going, and why, if we do the roles that we are
paying for. We are not being paid fairly, and we are being exploited under the guise of
"teamwork,
" when in reality, it's theft and overextension.
In conclusion, The managers are left unchecked about how they treat their staff, there is no due
process and no chance to make small mistakes, you are immediately fired. This then sets up a
system where the servers who do demonstrate loyalty and stay are then overworked and
undervalued. Managers feel comfortable making inappropriate comments to their staff with no
repercussions, and no self-reflection when spoken up against. Rather, the issues being taken
personally but never changed. Servers are consistently forced to work in unreasonable working
conditions, such as extreme thunderstorms and downpours, 90+ degree weather in full sleeved
black attire and we are discouraged from speaking against these cruel conditions because we
will be fired. There are no incentives to work at this restaurant because servers are required to
provide 60+ hours on average of labor, while not even being paid minimum wage as well as
tipping out 30% of the tips they do live off, We are calling for the following changes A complete reevaluation of upper management and ownership practices.
Reasonable scheduling with respect for work-life balance.
Immediate transparency around tip distribution and adherence to wage laws.
A structured and accountable HR process for complaints and dismissals.
Mandatory leadership training for all managers and team leads.
We love what we do. We take pride in our ability to serve guests with care and professionalism.
But we cannot continue to do so in an environment that dehumanizes and exploits us. We are asking, before things deteriorate further, that you take these concerns seriously read more