Sen. Chuck Schumer said the sudden closure of numerous Friendly’s restaurants across upstate New York over the weekend should be investigated by the federal government.
“No matter how you look at it, the way these abrupt closures and sudden firings went down was anything but friendly to upstate workers,” said Schumer, D-New York, in a statement issued Wednesday. “As a major corporation, Friendly’s must adhere to federal laws that provide their employees with necessary updates when their employment is in imminent danger, but it doesn’t look like that happened here. Or maybe there was a way to skirt those rules? Bottom line, people have a lot of questions, including me, and the feds should provide some answers.”
These are the regional locations that closed.
Central New York:
- Clay (Great Northern Mall, 4081 Route 31)
- Dewitt (3275 Erie Boulevard E.)
- Oswego (192-196 W. Bridge Street)
- Syracuse (3701 James Street)
Rochester-Finger Lakes Region:
- Gates (2 Spencerport Road)
- Greece (3935 Dewey Avenue)
- Greece (3081 West Ridge Road)
Western New York:
- Amherst (4350 Maple Road)
- Blasdell (3540 McKinley Parkway)
- Jamestown (10 S. Main Street)
- Williamsville (6651 Transit Road)
Southern Tier:
- Binghamton (1148 Front Street)
- Endicott (301 E. Main Street)
- Oneonta (377 Main Street)
Spectrum News acquired a letter sent to the restaurant's locations from CEO George Michel, which in part said there were certain "locations in geographic areas that have changed dramatically in some cases since those restaurants first opened."
Schumer said that many of the franchise’s workers were left in the dark and arrived at their jobs only to be told the locations were closing. He urged the U.S. Department of Labor to look into how employees were handled and inform Congress of the findings.
“When a worker takes a job, they are often mandated to provide a two-week notice upon quitting. Friendly’s should have to live by that same kind of standard, anything less is both unfair and irresponsible,” Schumer said.