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March 30, 2013

KFC fires employee for being homeless


A Tupelo woman hired earlier this month by a KFC was fired Monday after the franchise owner discovered she’s homeless.

Eunice Jasica has been staying at the Salvation Army lodge since early December after losing her job, her car and her home.

The nonprofit organization requires its residents to seek employment daily and, upon finding it, to pay for lodging and start saving for a place of their own. Jasica said she had been job hunting for months and was relieved to find work on March 11 at the KFC on North Gloster Street.

A document signed by that location’s general manager on March 12 confirms Jasica had been hired to perform “prep work” and would receive a paycheck every two weeks.

But when Jasica reported for duty Monday, franchise owner Chesley Ruff withdrew the job offer upon learning she lived at the Salvation Army.

“He told me to come back when I had an address and transportation,” Jasica recalled. “But how am I supposed to get all that without a job?”

Ruff signed a letter the same day stating he couldn’t employ her “due to concerns of lack of residence and transportation” and that she could reapply when her circumstances change.

On Thursday, though, Ruff said he’d only used the homeless excuse to protect Jasica from the real reason he declined her services: She has no prior food-prep experience and seemed too elderly to lift the 40-pound boxes involved in kitchen work.

Jasica is 59 years old and had worked 27 years as a bus driver and also did security for Bloomingdale’s. She attends classes at Itawamba Community College when she’s not job hunting.

“I was trying to spare her feelings, I guess,” Ruff said. “I don’t know if that’s right or wrong, but I know it was stupid.”

KFC operates more than 5,200 restaurants nationwide and follows all applicable employment laws, but its independent franchisees make their own hiring decisions, said KFC Corp. spokesman Rick Maynard.

Mississippi is an at-will employment state. That means the employer or employee can terminate the relationship at any time for any reason as long as it doesn’t violate anti-discrimination statutes based on factors like race, age, color, religion, sex, national origin or disability.

Under the law, Ruff had the right to terminate Jasica’s employment based on her lack of a permanent residence but not, for example, because of her age.

Ruff said he never terminated Jasica, though, because she hadn’t yet been hired. The document signed by the store’s general manager says otherwise. The general manager would not comment.

Although he refused to employ Jasica, Ruff has hired homeless people in the past. Among them was Scott Kohlman, a felon who came to Tupelo after his release from prison.

Kohlman, who was homeless, had worked at Ruff’s KFC for several months and even became a manager, according to Salvation Army Maj. Sue Dorman. His story also had appeared in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

Kohlman did not return a call for comment Thursday.

“Over the 20 or so years I’ve been in Tupelo doing business,” Ruff said, “I have helped people before.”

That’s why his refusal to employ Jasica shocked Dorman. She said she called Ruff after seeing his letter Monday and was told simply that it’s company policy not to employ people lacking stable housing or transportation.

Ruff never mentioned concerns about Jasica’s ability to lift heavy boxes or her lack of food-prep work, Dorman said.

“I was ticked,” Dorman said. “She’s one of those that’s really trying hard. She doesn’t want a hand-out.”

This week’s incident is a first for the Salvation Army in Tupelo and for similar agencies operating throughout Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, said the organization’s three-state divisional spokesman Mark Jones.

Jones called the situation “disheartening.”

26 comments:

  1. Baloney!
    She was probably fired for being a lousy, habitually late employee, but the racial grievance hustlers are trying to spin this into a story of "evil corporation fires wonderful Black women for being homeless"
    I can smell when I'm being conned just by the title of the article.

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    1. Racist asshole.

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    2. She had not even started working yet. Learn to read, dickhead.

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    3. Businesses will fire you nowadays over a bad credit score. They argue that being poor, or otherwise down on your luck, makes you a RISK -- you're more likely, they argue, to steal from the company, fellow employees, or customers.

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    4. bitch, she did not get a chance to be late, you ignorant asswipe.

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    5. I will never ever ever ever set foot in one of these fast food joints ever again! Besides that their food is contaminated over priced crap poison.
      SO U down and like 1/2 of Americans are down now and so don't even think about getting back up. Stay down you Scum, is all!
      Ok read loud and clear and so now everyone knows its not just the government that is the problem or big corporations, its Americans that are cruel hateful knowing no bounds whatsoever, and this JOb she was trying to get is to the bone bottom there is.

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    6. You didn't even read the article, apparently... she was told to come in Monday for her FIRST day, and when she showed up, was told to leave before she even started. You are the one making assumption here, you immediately assume she came late and was lousy. She didn't even get the chance to work to show whether she was lousy or not. I bet you are one of those people who, immediately upon seeing a homeless or poor person, assume they are shiftless and rude etc. Well, you're wrong and assuming such is one of the reasons homeless people don't get hired to prove themselves or build themselves up out of poverty. Because assumers like you don't hire them and they cannot get out of their situation. And starting a business is expensive too, so that isn't an option either anymore, unlike the old days. Get your head out of your ass and learn to differentiate between assumption and fact, and to deal with people as individuals, not based on stereotyped assumption!

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    7. Very well said.

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  2. Welcome to the America built by Wall Street.

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  3. He's still not telling us the real reason. The real reason has to do with being eager to hire and promote an ex-felon. There are a thousand unethical and illegal ways to cut corners in the fast food restaurant, and the last thing you need is an honest employee who'll blow the whistle.

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  4. SUe for age discrimination

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  5. One good comment from Dave and 2 inhumane comments from anony-mass!

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  6. Ruff is a total A-hole.

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  7. KFC is a horrible restaurant anyway. This restaurant has the most MSGs in their food than any other restaurant.
    http://www.organiccommonsense.com/organic/the-toxic-ingredients-in-kfc-foods/

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  8. In the Netherlands you do get any money from the government when you are homeless. You need an address to get that...

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  9. Read, douche bag, she WORKED THERE, was HIRED, she didnt finish her 30 days...WHY DONT YOU READ, AMerica- home of comeplete loosers, no wonder china took us over,look who defends us,assholes like you...F KFC, and you loosers who arent your brothers keeper.

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  10. Call them directly and asked if they hire retarded people, those in here may possibly be retarded enough to work there...the number to contact them is 662-842-4152...you have a home and are complete dicks,cant wait til your out of work, maybe just maybe walmart will close and you interbred douchebags with your raised trucks and smart phones( which by the way doesnt make you smart) keep inbreeding maybe just maybe a hurricane will take the rest of you useless rednecks.

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  11. Only in America. Scumville of the 22nd century.

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  12. Wait a minute! Can you call this woman homeless, when she has a place, perhaps, at least temporarily? Didn't she supply the address of the shelter she was staying at, on the application for employment. Technically speaking, this woman is not homeless. How could this manager determine if she could not handle 40lbs., if he did not give her a chance. After all, she was told that she was hire. Give her a chance!

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    1. Salvation Army residences is still considered homeless.

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  13. Easy- find a lawyer on continginecy and then sue for wrongful dismissal and/or renegotiate a settlement or job

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  14. You'd think KFC would be greatful someone actually wants to do their crappy work...

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  15. She would have eaten all the chicken. That's the real reason

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  16. One of the "EMPLOYER" benefits of a free market system is little no accountability to the franchise or corporation. A production based economy is different. If you want to permanently change this, petition your legislature for Glass-Stegall. This is the most powerful economic system in the planet, and yet congress is fighting it's implementation as you read this. Go to Lyndon LaRouche for more info now and see what yo can do to turn this around.

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  17. My prayers are with this women in her time of need.

    Proverbs 19:17

    He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed.

    1 John 3:17

    But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

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