AS SPATS with the boss go, it started out small—a complaint over 10 minutes of unpaid work every morning. But when the pet dander finally settled at a Southeast Portland doggie daycare, picket lines had sprouted outside Dogs Dig It, and the employee at the center of it all said her boss had not only had her fired, but also evicted.
Last week, Cristen Love was standing among the pla-cards waved daily outside her former employer on SE 11th and Salmon. Love, 29, had wrangled the pooches at Dogs Dig It—Portland’s largest doggie daycare—from December 2009 until August 13, when owners Ellie Davis and Janel Hanson fired her for lateness and insubordination.
Love says things only got worse from there. She and Hanson used to be friendly, and Hanson knew Love had adopted a Basenji terrier, Ilio, from the doggie daycare—even though her apartment bans pets. During her second day protesting, on August 17, Love says Hanson “came out and threatened to call my landlord about Ilio.” When Love got home, she found an official notice taped to the door: Get rid of the dog, or move out by August 31.
Dogs Dig It referred questions to its attorney, Tamsen Leachman, who didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.
Love’s property manager, Roslyn Southwick, confirms she received a call on August 17 from a woman claiming to be a tenant who complained about a dog in Love’s apartment. But when Southwick asked for a name, the woman refused. “I thought it was odd that a tenant would want to remain anonymous, even after I said I wouldn’t tell anyone who she was,” says Southwick.
Southwick wasn’t the only person to get an eyebrow-raising message about Love when the protest launched. Former Dogs Dig It manager Katie Patterson received an e-mail from Davis the day the protest started, asking if Patterson had ever written Love up for violations. Patterson hadn’t, but she said Davis’ request struck her as odd: “It was really fishy, like she realized, ‘Oh, this is going to be a bigger deal than I thought it was.'”
The issue that sparked the debacle came down to 10 measly minutes: Workers at Dogs Dig It were required to come in 10 minutes early for their shift but weren’t paid for the prep time.
It’s against state law for employers to make hourly workers come in for any unpaid time, so in protest Love began clocking in on the dot… until she was fired. Now, Love and half a dozen members of the International Workers of the World are rallying daily, and Love has filed a wrongful termination complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.
Meanwhile, she’s still not sure if she’ll give up Ilio or move: “I’m wrestling with that. He’s such a sensitive dog, such a mama’s boy.”
”Measly” grossly understates what 10 minutes per day actually mean–for a five-day-a-week employee, it comes to a whole week’s pay over the course of a year. Also, you failed to mention that Love was given no explanation for her sudden firing until 5 days after the fact–and after the owners had sent out emails to former managers and finally gotten one current employee, who isn’t a manager, to write a letter outlining Love’s ”insubordination”. And, its ”Industrial Workers of the World”, not International.
If the 10 minutes amounted to overtime under FLSA then it should have been compensated at 1.5 times pay. Additionally, if BOLI finds violations, they have the ability to impose penalties on top of this for each individual violation, I believe up to $1000 per. If the violations were knowing and willful, they can go back 3 years of violations.
Not so measly. And the principle is the same regardless if it is 10 minutes or 10 hours.
right. The State law is clear: an employer simply can NOT make someone work off the clock. If ‘Dogs Dig It’ required Love to come in ten minutes ahead of shift, then they should PAY her for those ten minutes. YES – like the other two commentors mentioned – & like every single hourly wage earner knows – 10 “measly minutes” certainly adds up. I becha no employer (including the MERCURY’S PAID STAFF) would consider it measly if an employee were stealing ten minutes from the clock every day!
Btw, that fact that Janel Hanson would make an anonymous snitch on Love to her landlord shows her to not only be a COWARD, but also shows that she really doesn’t give a shit about dogs – by puting Love in a position forcing her to choose b/t giving up her dog & her apt. I really hope such hypocrisy hasn’t been lost on others.
The violations mentioned in this article are only part of the story. Former workers have joined the litigation and added complaints of being refused their 10-minute breaks required for every 4 hours of shift time and being demoted or fired for talking with fellow workers about improving working conditions. More than one employee has also told of being discouraged from seeking medical care under worker’s comp after being bitten while working.
Yeesh! I know where I won’t be leaving *my* dog next time I go somewhere I can’t take him with me…
I was one of the employees who was (accidentally) injured by a dog; I was left with a split eyelid and required stitches at emergency care due to the continuous bleeding. A few minutes after I was injured, one of the owners showed up at the place of business and asked me – well knowing what had happened – if I could continue watching the dogs until she could find a staff replacement. At this point, I had a small piece of gauze that I had to replace every few minutes because of the bleeding. I finally left for the hospital when one co-worker stepped up and just told me to leave. Pretty messed up!
As a former employee of Dogs Dig It, I can say, 100%, without a doubt, there are many, many illegal things that go on in that place. It’s not just the employees that are treated badly, the dogs are not their highest priority either.
When I was employed by DDI, I faced ridicule, gossip (By Janel and Ellie) and discrimination, constantly. I too, was forced to work unpaid hours or face termination. I was threatened w/ termination if I didn’t lie to our customers about whatever Janel and Ellie saw fit to lie about (which is quite a bit). I could go on and on about how unethical Janel Hansen and Tracy “Ellie” Davis are but I won’t, because it makes me sick to even think about it.
Roslyn Southwick has something to say regarding the reply as it was just brought to my attention after my recent exit from my employer: “Get rid of the dog” This is a completely false statement. There is a protocol management must take if they allow animals, or not. The form (notification) used was a standard RHA (Rental Housing Association) document that was posted. This is a wonderful organization to protect Landlords and Tenants. I repeat, as protocol, I used the standard form which there exists no such ignorant verbiage as “get rid of the dog or get out”. It breaks my heart that I, after actually AGREEING to speak of this to the press, that my words would make me look like the bad, horrible Manager. I am not – I LOVE dogs, all animals actually. So sad that there was no mention of my friendship and understanding with Love, as I actually risked my job to let them keep their dog in the apartment as long as it took- I fought for them. I applaud Love for her determination and strength to keep her LIL’ BABY Ilio. Love, I hope you and Ilio are safe and happy!