Amfil Technologies Inc (FUNN)

[shajandr]

"WOW MOM WOW!!!" as Goodbuddy used to post.

James Firkins JimFirk 12 hours ago
Ben Castanie bcastanie wrote:
Guys

I trust the team to address the community when the time is right.
At the moment, the focus is on remodeling the space and setting up this location for success!

I know they are working on a plan to handle this situation in the best way possible.
We already talked to the press, and are now focusing on moving forward.

Mr. Castanie,

Thanks for commenting on the situation, it at least shows that you are aware of it.

My name is Jim Firkins and I am one of several people who are involved in the "negative pushback" that is happening in Virginia Beach right now.

First lets be clear that the employees that your company let go were not responsible for the organization behind the backlash. They've told their story to the local news and the word spread but it is the gaming community that has taken up this challenge. As a community I think we tend to look after our own.

Most of us feel that the way that you treated these employees was just wrong. Was it legal, sure but we don't really care about that. We don't care so much for what your investors think or really your bottom line. If you can't run a successful business and still treat your employees like Humans than we don't care the success of a company. I think we also understand that this happens all of the time with companies, the big difference here is you did it in our back yard to people who are ours. I don't want any of that to sound vicious, I'm just trying to get our point of view across and maybe there can be some middle ground here.

We're living in a time where just the cost of living has gotten higher and people are living paycheck to paycheck so you must be able to empathize with the fact that having all or most of your income yanked out from underneath you can be devastating. Yes, we know they got their last paychecks, yes we know they should be elidable for unemployment, yes they can go find a new job but all of that takes time. In the mean time, bills don't wait, people need to eat and life is going on. I hope you can see why we as a community feel like what your company did was wrong in a moral sense.

Susan Lawver, who is winning you no favor with the VB community, said that she was responsible for the decision to fire the employees without notice and stated that her reasons were that she feared that they would steal from the company and shirk their responsibilities by not showing up for shifts or disregarding food safety regulations and jeopardizing guests safety. She did say that she wasn't accusing anyone of that behavior, but when you use it for the justification for making a decision like this.. Well yes you are. It's also been reported by the Virginia Pilot that Ms. Lawver said that the company is dedicated to learning from the experience as it moves forward and “We are committed to improving our communication and to making decisions in a manner that respects and honors the contributions of every member of our team,”
That is fantastic lip service and we hope that Snakes & Lattes never treats another person the way you treated the staff in VB but that does nothing to help the nine employees that were left out in the cold. Is there any chance of Snakes and Lattes looking backwards and helping them?

We have organized, we'll remain dedicated to what we see as correcting an injustice and we'll continue to help out your former employees. We set up a go fund me just to help them get through this time. The link is posted on our FB page, or look for "Great gaming employees who have lost their jobs". The meager funds that we have collected are being distributed by your former manager and we keep the receipts. Maybe some people in the S&L community may feel a little sympathy and be interested in contributing. If not that is ok, I know that a lot of people may see us as the "enemy" right now.

I think a place like Snakes & Lattes would really contribute greatly to a local gaming community. Everything I've seen from your other locations looks great... but for us our people come first.

Thanks for reading, I know this was long but I want everyone at S&L to know where we are coming from.

Jim Firkins

p.s. feel free to contact me at [e-mail]