There were only 3 reviews on Yelp, of which 2 were removed.. Doesn't really seem like harassment to me, nor does it really seem like the parlor owner did anything particularly awful (although looking at the photos it was disgusting in the restaurant).
Basically I feel like the police needn't be involved and that officer probably should have read the Yelp posts prior to calling, I highly doubt this would ever go to trial.
A month or so ago, I was finally given a job at a local pizzeria named "The Wild Tomato" in Harrisburg.
I was given duties mainly related to cleaning and sanitation.
The first concern I had was the fact that they were storing trash cans in their walk-in fridge, where uncovered food and sauces were often stored despite health regulations. I learned to ignore this for the sake of employment. I have photos/video of this.
Shortly within the month, I discovered a bag near the outside trash dumpster that contained multiple empty bags that had contained synthetic marijuana, a multitude of hypodermic needles, and receipts for deliveries and time-clock slips, all with the same employee's name listed (one of the drivers). Again, I have photos.
Upon notifying Paul, the owner, he threw away the receipts with the employee's information and told me that it was "no longer my problem". At the time, I assumed that this meant he would take corrective action on his own.
However, the employee in question was never reprimanded and continues working at the shop.
Recently, I found another empty vial of synthetic marijuana, this time inside the building in the employee area, among the cleaning supplies.
When I brought it to the attention of Paul, he stated that he did not care about what his employee's did, or if they brought it into the workplace or not, as long as they did not physically use them during work. He told me he could not control what his workers put into their bodies, and asked me if I wanted him to drug test everyone. I mentioned the previous incident with the needles and how I could have gotten stuck by one, causing a liability. He responded "Well then you better stay home, you go outside you could get shot, you could get hit by a car, the real world's dangerous." He also stated that an empty container with a commercial label on it, advertised with drug images but "not for human consumption" could have had anything in it. He said "If I get a vial and put a label that says cocaine on it does that mean it had cocaine in it?".
He dismissed any safety concerns I might have had, implying that I was at fault for "having a problem" with narcotics on the premises.
Basically I feel like the police needn't be involved and that officer probably should have read the Yelp posts prior to calling, I highly doubt this would ever go to trial.
The cops shouldn't have read the reviews and shouldn't have called nor had any interest in this case.
This is incompetence (failing to understand the law) at best, or a cop making an unofficial call to intimidate a citizen as a favor to the pizza place owner at worst.
Either way, there's no good reason for the cops to get involved at all here.
I would be interested to read the ones that supposedly violate the content guidelines or terms of service. Not to defend the cop or owner, but I'll bet this is the most level-headed and polite of the three.
Also, what is someone doing with synthetic marijuana AND hypodermic needles? That part just seems odd.
In any case, I think they both should have left well enough alone. Joseph wanted to change the way the place operated, Paul was having none of it, and that should have been that. Why people feel the need to escalate minor disputes like this to the police is beyond me.
Comments
There were only 3 reviews on Yelp, of which 2 were removed.. Doesn't really seem like harassment to me, nor does it really seem like the parlor owner did anything particularly awful (although looking at the photos it was disgusting in the restaurant).
Basically I feel like the police needn't be involved and that officer probably should have read the Yelp posts prior to calling, I highly doubt this would ever go to trial.
From Yelp http://www.yelp.com/filtered_reviews/ELUSdeDHbZLMVcl4K5qLkw?...:
A month or so ago, I was finally given a job at a local pizzeria named "The Wild Tomato" in Harrisburg. I was given duties mainly related to cleaning and sanitation. The first concern I had was the fact that they were storing trash cans in their walk-in fridge, where uncovered food and sauces were often stored despite health regulations. I learned to ignore this for the sake of employment. I have photos/video of this.
Shortly within the month, I discovered a bag near the outside trash dumpster that contained multiple empty bags that had contained synthetic marijuana, a multitude of hypodermic needles, and receipts for deliveries and time-clock slips, all with the same employee's name listed (one of the drivers). Again, I have photos.
Upon notifying Paul, the owner, he threw away the receipts with the employee's information and told me that it was "no longer my problem". At the time, I assumed that this meant he would take corrective action on his own. However, the employee in question was never reprimanded and continues working at the shop.
Recently, I found another empty vial of synthetic marijuana, this time inside the building in the employee area, among the cleaning supplies.
When I brought it to the attention of Paul, he stated that he did not care about what his employee's did, or if they brought it into the workplace or not, as long as they did not physically use them during work. He told me he could not control what his workers put into their bodies, and asked me if I wanted him to drug test everyone. I mentioned the previous incident with the needles and how I could have gotten stuck by one, causing a liability. He responded "Well then you better stay home, you go outside you could get shot, you could get hit by a car, the real world's dangerous." He also stated that an empty container with a commercial label on it, advertised with drug images but "not for human consumption" could have had anything in it. He said "If I get a vial and put a label that says cocaine on it does that mean it had cocaine in it?". He dismissed any safety concerns I might have had, implying that I was at fault for "having a problem" with narcotics on the premises.
Basically I feel like the police needn't be involved and that officer probably should have read the Yelp posts prior to calling, I highly doubt this would ever go to trial.
The cops shouldn't have read the reviews and shouldn't have called nor had any interest in this case.
This is incompetence (failing to understand the law) at best, or a cop making an unofficial call to intimidate a citizen as a favor to the pizza place owner at worst.
Either way, there's no good reason for the cops to get involved at all here.
I would be interested to read the ones that supposedly violate the content guidelines or terms of service. Not to defend the cop or owner, but I'll bet this is the most level-headed and polite of the three.
Also, what is someone doing with synthetic marijuana AND hypodermic needles? That part just seems odd.
In any case, I think they both should have left well enough alone. Joseph wanted to change the way the place operated, Paul was having none of it, and that should have been that. Why people feel the need to escalate minor disputes like this to the police is beyond me.
They used to shoot up pot, but they had to stop because the seeds kept clogging up the needles.
I'm disappointed in Yelp for filtering out reviews that point out that the proprietor used a complaint to the police to intimidate a reviewer.
Filtering shill reviews is good for the quality of a review site, but none of the filtered reviews would fit that description.