UNCOVERING: part one
Statement of events leading to the 28th of February 2020 at

Hennesseys Coffee Shop

18 North Street, BS3 1HW


This statement is to cover the facts and context of the incident of the above date. I understand there are many more questions I have been asked, however, this statement will not be including those. You are however more than welcome to ask me and I will be happy to answer.

In this statement, the following will be referred as:

MC = Michael Cook
HCS = Hennesseys Coffee Shop

The reason why this is being shared with you now is because it is now over 6 months on and I am still having to explain to people (through no fault of their own whatsoever) that what MC is telling them is not the truth. I have heard so many versions and excuses that it has come to the point that I have no other option than to collate the facts of the incident. By sharing this information you can see for yourself the facts as they stand and clear up any future discrepancies.

Table of Contents:

- INTRO
- OVERVIEW
- CONTEXT OF INCIDENT START
- WEDNESDAY 26th FEBRUARY
- THURSDAY 27th FEBRUARY
- FRIDAY 28TH FEBRUARY
- INCIDENT
- FORMAL LETTER OF GRIEVANCE
- PERSONAL LETTER OF GRIEVANCE - REFERENCES

________________________________________________

- INTRO:

I had been contracted to work for Michael Cook of Hennesseys Coffee Shop, in which I was to provide 2 hours of lunchtime assistance daily from 11.50 am - 13.50 pm Monday to Friday, for 50 weeks per annum. I had been doing this for 8 years.

In addition to this:

- Unpaid overtime when it was exceptionally busy to keep up with demand, as I found it unprofessional to just leave when my shift had ended when there is a shop full of waiting customers.

- Produced hand-painted menu boards.

- Design, print and produce HCS gift vouchers.

- Designed, printed and produced sales receipts booklets, that were needed for customers requiring proof of purchase.

- Stocked an extensive tea menu (though was never reimbursed) as the owner said he did not want to drive to Bath to get the stock. This also included design, printing and producing hand-crafted tea menus as well as the labelling for the tea display.

- Despite my objections; I was assigned the task of producing gallery space (which I was given ‘free reign’ on but that was then later repeatedly sabotaged, often to the detriment of the artists as well as myself) which again took up an extensive amount of time to correlate, organise and promote.

- Design, print and produce labelling for artists' items that MC sells in HCS as well as producing paperwork and tallies for sales as well as the receipts of sales (which I often had to replace missing payments that were left for the artists when I was not in the shop).

- Designed, printed and produced promo cards (upon customer's requests) which the owner took and did not use, though thankfully another local business used them as welcome packs for newcomers to the area - thus bringing in more customers.

- Design, print and produce the food label signage for the main counter items.

- Also, the issue of tips: which MC repeatedly told people ‘she gets all of it, I don’t touch a penny of it’ (which many knew I always split the tips 50:50 for the first few years of working there, as I felt that was fairer). I also paid for anything consumed there as I felt uncomfortable with how many customers complained ‘that I get it all for free' which I knew was not the truth and I was uncomfortable with MC was telling customers that. Also, many regulars were uncomfortable with how little MC charged them, so they either requested for me to process their bills, and when realised MC would get annoyed with me for ‘overcharging them’, so we (myself and the customers) agreed to put extra in the tip pot so that I could return it to the till. It was perhaps one of the most widely known ‘secrets’ we had.

- It also transpired that due to MC not charging many customers board price and then complaining he doesn’t make enough to even pay for a replacement coffee machine (which was decades old) and that his accountant doesn’t know about depreciation costs and said he couldn’t do that. I instead used the tips I received to replace the unpaid items and therefore contribute to the depreciation costs myself. On average I paid a minimum of £10 per week back into the till (still nowhere near close to the amount he was giving away) and a maximum of approximately £25 per week. I did this for over 5 years.

Now for the maths:

Minimum variable:
£10 x 50 weeks: £500 per annum
£500 x 5 years: £2,500 towards the 5-year depreciation costings cycle.

Maximum variable:
£25 x 50 weeks: £1,2500 per annum
£1,000 x 5 years: £6,250 towards the 5-year depreciation costings cycle.

- I was also asked by MC in 2017 to produce the Instagram social network for HCS.

I was initially happy to help out with these things as MC said he was struggling with the shop and had no money. As time went on it was clear that was not the case, so I drew back on a lot of these things but did not want to point them out as to cause a scene.


- OVERVIEW:

As with any client I work for, I always tried my best and use my skills to the best of my ability. I initially very much enjoyed working at HCS, the customers were beyond fabulous and working with MC had been fine. Granted there had been outbursts previously, but I just put them down to having a bad day, everyone has them, I saw no point in pointing them out and challenging them, instead, I listened and supported him as much as I possibly could. The past few years have been a challenge and the past year at HCS has been exceptionally tricky, but I have tried to remain resilient as I needed the work, and with the current economic climate (this was pre-C19) and as a low-income earner, I was not in the position to be picky.

I overcame issues by remaining calm, providing practical solutions and doing the best I can with the situations as they arose. The past few months had been particularly unbearable - yet still, I tried my hardest to get on with it. The past few weeks, prior to 28th February, sent me to the edge. It had a detrimental effect on both my mental and physical health.

It had got so bad that it was becoming repeatedly evident to those there, and I was advised to take necessary precautions to make sure I was keeping myself safe. For a very long time I was extremely torn about this, events that have occurred since have confirmed that this was wise advice.


- CONTEXT OF INCIDENT START:

-WEDNESDAY 26th FEBRUARY:

On Wednesday the 26th of February the MC decided to declare to the shop that he needs to run the social network page Instagram, as it was his business and he should take control of it. (I was in the middle of preparing food orders and serving people their food at the time while he was chatting so my concentration was on the job, rather than over listening to MC’s talking).

He then turned round to me and repeated the same thing to me, to which I respectfully agreed and complied (even though I was slightly taken aback by this delivery of information, though I had become used to these random outbursts/ declarations from him over the years, so thought nothing of it). I reminded him that I had already provided him with the password as well as previously attaching his email to it in April 2017*, but if he could provide me with the confirming details I could assign the telephone number and email once I had finished work and got home to turn my computer on.

*In 2017 he complained that if he used an internet connection he was going to get stiffed with data charges as his current plan had no web access attached. I explained that he could still access it from his email, but the email he gave me said that it was already assigned to an Instagram account so does he have another email I could use instead - he said ‘no that’s the only one I’ve got’.

*please see attached screenshot*


So for the past 3/4 years, I had been promoting HCS for him, which he was happy to do. I ran all posts past him and kept him up to date with all comms etc. that entailed. The only complaint from him was that it bought too many new customers which MC did not like. Even though I worked unpaid overtime during these periods to keep up with the higher demand. Through effective marketing, I have increased the shop's presence, brought in visitors from London and further afield, created weekly update stories to showcase HCS’s product range and nurtured positive comms with customer responses and much more.

But as I said - he decided (after saying he had been speaking to everyone for weeks that he should be doing it all, and they agreed with this) that he wanted to take it over as it was "his business and his shop".

So, on Wednesday 26th February I wrote down the password again for him (as he kept forgetting it; Latte01) and asked him to confirm the email that he would like to use so I can transfer the full access over. MC wrote it down and read it out back to me and also confirmed that the number I have for MC is the one he wants to use for the account, to which he also confirmed.

When I got back from my shift that afternoon (3.48 pm) I started the process to transfer the details over to MC. I then sent MC a message on his personal profile to verify the details were correct and that he was happy with them so that I could log out of the account. I heard nothing back. I then sent him a text message to his mobile phone at 6.20 pm.

By 8.30 pm I still had heard nothing from him so I was about to call MC to remind him but he gave me a thumbs up on his @castle.eden profile. This time when I hit the ‘confirm’ button on Instagram all went through. I no longer had access to that account.

At 9.21 pm that evening I noticed MC had left a message through his personal Instagram on someone else’s Instagram profile post (which was a post about HCS) so I politely reminded him that I had already transferred access which he has already verified.

Another Instagrammer (who thought it was the owner of the building having a go at HCS) who was within our network replied to the @castle.eden post thinking it was the building landlord of HCS, as the post was about building shopfronts with the words: “WOW”.

After this @castle.eden/MC removed his comment, but another person who was tagged within the post messaged me asking me; ‘Oh jeez what’s going on on that Instagram post, keep getting tagged in it everytime someone comments but no idea what’s going on’.

- THURSDAY 27th FEBRUARY:

After (what I thought) the matter had been cleared up, I went to work the following day. There was no mention of the Instagram issue at all. MC did not complain at all about the ‘WOW’ comment. MC did not acknowledge any of it at all. Whilst it was a more particularly unpleasant shift than usual, I just put it down to the fact that he was in another one of his bad moods (often drink-related) and was annoyed about his error online the previous night. I did not bring it up, as I felt it would have achieved very little, and as I have said - I am there to do a job, so I just got on with it.

However, that evening.........

That night, Thursday 27th February, on the reply where I had already reminded everyone who was in that post that I no longer have access to the HCS account, so I did not understand the MC’s outburst from his personal castle.eden profile (this had been online since Wednesday 26th of February, I had been into work that day - Thursday 27th of February and MC had said nothing to me about it at all). So I was surprised that at 10.45 pm I was tagged within the thread of him denying that MC / HCS had removed his comment. I explained that unfortunately that was not the case, and tried my best to calmly and clearly remind him of the facts.

Despite my having to repeat myself this went on until 10 past midnight. The messages MC was leaving were becoming more incoherent and nonsensical, so I suggested that we leave it, have a good night's sleep and I will see him tomorrow for the usual shift

6 hours later (that following morning) I explained for the final time and got ready to go to work hoping to find some explanation as to what was going on with MC’s HCS replies.

- FRIDAY 28th FEBRUARY:

I was hoping that when I went into work and showed him all of the facts and evidence we could have a reasonable discussion and find a solution to remedy the situation.

What ensued upon my entrance into the shop was not only further contradiction and lies about the situation but an explosion that not only shook me up, as he sacked me on the spot and went on to continue making contradictions for his actions but also making accusations that, I reminded him, I can prove are not true.

He then verbally abused another customer, that she left the shop clearly upset and was banned from the premises. Another customer simply got up and left as she upset and uncomfortable being there. Another passing customer stood in the doorway - who was concerned for my well-being and asked if they should call the police. The threats he made were absurd and disturbing and when I told him to please stop abusing a customer he told me to shut up. As there was a woman with a small infant on the premises at the time I did not want this situation to turn more volatile.

Mike’s outburst not only implicated others (who I have since spoken to - they knew nothing of what Mike was on about) but left me in a state of complete shock and exhaustion after months of this type of behaviour.

- INCIDENT:

I walk into the shop as normal.

MC: “Nah I don’t think so, game over.”

I ask: “Sorry, what?”

MC: “Getting things off your sister! My god it was brutal, my family were fucking furious my sister was going to come down.”

I ask: “Sorry, what exactly was brutal?”

MC: “The whole thing was blown out of proportion. Talking about me, talking to me like that, nobody talks to me like that, you know me, game over.”

{He then turned, ignoring me and started serving a customer.}

I then explained: “That when you put messages like that on the internet, the way you did-“

{He then interrupts me}

MC: “Shall I tell you what I did, I did not erase that message, I don’t know how to erase things. I looked at all my messages and I’ve left messages for people, none of them are underneath my thing, they took it off.”

I said very calmly: “No, they didn’t Mike.”

MC: “I was fine with what I put on there, ah fucking hell blah blah blah, that was for everyone, my god I’m trying to put a photo on, because when I transferred the photo onto the Hennesseys site it ended up on the @castle.eden site I was like oh I can’t even put a picture on my own site, that was it, everything else was blown out of proportion.”

I reminded him again (even though what he had just said made no sense and contradicted his previous contradictions) that: “When you post things like that under other people's posts on the internet, people are going to see it and-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “Yeah B—— and P— laughed and everyone else laughed and they all thought it was hilarious because they knew it was me just being me and they all thought it was absolutely hilarious”.

So I pointed out the fact that he went on a whole:- "But you-

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “Apologising for me through my name? Nahhhh, you know me Sara, people say things about me - that was fucking hell, my god, everyone was like fucking hell, she’s talking to me like that?!”

{He then turns, ignores me again and talks to another customer.}

A customer asked me what had happened and I reply: “Mike left a rather inappropriate message on someone else’s profile and those in it picked up on it and unfortunately he -“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “I did nothing wrong and it spiralled because of your sister and something you took wrong. I wanted to put things on my site and I spoke to T—— about it, P—— and B——, all I wanna do is put a couple of pictures on myself and you were-“

S—— then walks in and MC says: “I don’t want you in here anymore.”

S——: “What?”

MC: “I don’t want to discuss it, I don’t want you in anymore.

S—— asks to wash her hands

MC replies; “Do what you like.”

MC then turns to me and says: “So I told T—— and I told B—— and I told so many people I want to put pictures on there and I just want to put a few pictures on and you immediately come back with ‘oh have the site’”

To which I reply: “I’m sorry Mike you know that is not the truth and I have proof that that was not the- ”

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “And I put on a photo and it has over a hundred likes since yesterday.”

I reminded him that this is a public Instagram that he is referring to, therefore it is available for all to see, so: “Why are you saying this when you know it is not the truth?”

MC: “I know what the truth is Sara.”

I reply: “But you’ve-”

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “The way she spoke to me like that. My family wouldn’t speak to me like that and they can say anything to me.”

I remind him again: “But the facts are there for all to see and what you are saying now is contradicting what you have said online.”

MC: “Yeah, let them see it.”

I reply: “Yes, that you had a full-on hissy fit and then carried on contradicting yoursel-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “I did not contradict myself, I did not contradict myself once, tell me and I will correct you.”

I replied: “Well for the start you put *the @castle.eden comment* on there and then you took it off which was - “

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “I did not take it off, on my mother's life and my children’s lifes I did not take it off, so that was your first mistake. I didn’t take it off, I don’t know how to take it off.”

I reply: “Those tagged in the post saw what you did-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “I didn’t have a problem putting it on and then deny it. You’re getting tangled in with your sister. I put it on, I didn’t want to take it off why would I? I didn’t take it off, I don’t know how to take it off. I put it on there and everyone was like ‘oh my god Mike like whatever.”

I asked: “Who?”

MC: “Everybody, they took it as it was.”

I asked again: “Like who?”

{He would not answer}

I said: “As I explained to you when you had that moment, it’s obviously all transferred to you, you’ve got all the information, so you can rectify it-”

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “I tried doing it that afternoon and it was the @castle.eden thing that went on and I was like oh my god I can’t do it for f f f fucks sakes. I can’t put a thing on my own site, that was it.”

I then remind him: “But Mike, you were commenting on someone else’s post, not the Hennesseys one, so no one would have seen it to-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “I didn’t even know who’s post it was.”

I reminded him that he must have done and: it’s still on there and everyone tagged in that post has seen it and you on that post said it didn’t happ-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “Of course they’ve seen it. I was annoyed because I couldn’t put it on my way. I was like oh my god, I put it on there and I did not take it off. And then H— comes back to me and oh my god!”

I said: “Yeah she said ‘WOW’. Do you think that *your @castle.eden* reply was a necessary thing to comment like that on someone else’s post?”

MC: “I wanted to say I can’t put anything on my site and thank you for liking the shutters. That’s because I don’t know about these things.”

I reminded him: “Oh come on Mike you have several eBay sites and a high-value private auction site, so I am having trouble believing that you don’t know your way around the internet.”

{Silence}

I also pointed out that: “Also, the email that you said was your only one, has already been in use for an Instagram account over 3 years ago, which I queried then and you said it’s the only one you have, so I gave you the details and the password to the Instagram account so you can still log in.”

{He flummoxed a bit here and didn’t reply to that}

MC: “T——’s been showing me how to do things and I only joined 6 weeks ago with the @castle.eden thing wasn’t it?”

{It was apparent he was only going to contradict himself further and compound the lies.}

So I reminded him: “At the end of the day it’s all there in broad dayligh-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “Yeah, and I haven’t got a problem with it. I put something on there and people who know me are like ‘oh my god Mike you’re mad’ I explained what I was trying to do, they know what I was trying to do - put photos on there and I was like aaargh yeah me.”

So I asked: “So because you couldn’t put photos on your profile you then decided to leave a comment on someone else’s post on someone else’s profile? I don’t know what that excuse has got to do with you not being able to put photos on your site?”

MC: “I didn’t know what site I was on. I just clicked on one because I was trying for 4 hours and P— only put me on last night and that’s when I found H——’s comments. P—— had to, I didn’t even know how to put a capital L in, I didn’t understand a capital L, and he was like: ‘fucking hell I don’t like this Mike’.”

I asked him: “Are you sure about that?”

{Silence}

I said: “As I said at the start Mike, had you said; shit sorry I cocked that up there, my wrong I’ll sort it out. Then it wouldn’t have been so bad, but instead, we now have a huge long stream of you having a Mike moment, and as you say you can say what you like in here, and the same way of rationale applies on the internet, people will respond also and-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “Yeah, and how have they responded, I got nearly a hundred likes last night and everyone I got in touch with last night and come in this morning were like; ‘do it Mike we know who you are’ so it did it, that’s me so that’s me I didn’t cancel it.”

I said: “I can’t believe you are saying the same thing knowing that it’s not true-“

{He interrupts me again}

He goes to start again, but I ask him to stop, as like last night: “You are just contradicting yourself further and it’s making it uncomfortable for you-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “And your sister barking at me!”

I reply: “They are nothing more than replies to the repeated posts you yourself were adding and tagging both of us in repeatedly, so-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “H— put some things on there saying ‘WOW’ and I’m going to respond to it, I won’t have anyone talking to me like that and the ‘sorry for the horrible comment the shop owner put’.”

I said: “She was apologising on your behalf because-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “Nah I don’t have that, my families furious, my sister nearly come down, jesus that wouldn’t have been great, you wouldn’t like that the way she is. I’ve got to be responsible for my words, I’m digging a hole for myself - nah, are you kidding me? Nobody would get away with that.”

I said: “Mike, she did not say anything out of term and as I said-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “Digging myself a hole, who does she think she is?”

I replied: “Well, unfortunately, you were-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “Nah, nah, nah, nah, my family wouldn’t say something like that to me.”

I said: “I’m sorry but you were, like you are now, digging yourself a hole because-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “If someone had put that ‘sorry for the owner’ comment on there you would have been on them Sara.”

I replied: “I’m sorry Mike, you’ve made your own bed on that one there I am afraid.”

He then serves a leaving customer and then says to me:

MC: “People say things to me and I respond, I didn’t go to bed last night, I’ve been up 24 hours plus what I was up this morning.”

I replied: “I’m sorry but that is your own doing I am afrai-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “Nah, nah nah, I’m no good, same as when they say it in here.”

So I say: “So by that rationale, that mentality-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “Business is hard enough without that. I wanted to share some photographs on my own site, when P— finally got me onto the site, cuz I didn’t even know how to get on there and all I had to do was change the L to a capital.”

(What relevancy of this capital L has to do with anything I do not know, but by this point, it was blatantly apparent I was not going to get any clarification on the main matter, so I didn’t bother asking).

He then starts to serve a lady with a baby who had entered and the now leaving customer asks what’s going on, and I offer to show them the reference to this so that -

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “I wanted to join the site, everyone I spoke to about it for two weeks said; ‘it’s your site of course it’s your site, how my story started, people seemed over the moon. I wanted to put half a dozen photos on, I got all them likes last night that all I wanted to do, it’s my business Sara. I asked you nicely if I could and you got all blah, blah, blah and I thought oh my god here comes the roller coaster.”

I replied: “I responded nicely, and I made sure I had all the correct details so I could sign it all over to you, I-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “No you didn’t you got shitty, no you went completely over the top.”

(I know this was a lie, the people who were there at the time know this was a lie, and I also have proof to verify that this is a lie)

I said: “On that day that happened ‘I went completely over the top did I?’ Are you sur-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “No, you gave me everything and you weren’t happy Sara, you gave me the pieces of paper!”

I reminded him that I gave him a piece of paper: “Because you kept forgetting the password, so I wrote it down for you: Latte01. I had set it up for you and gave it to you in 2017 and you kept saying you don’t know it, hence why I wrote to down for you.”

MC: “I don’t even read emails like that, that was an old web to mail thing.”

So I asked: “Why would you give me an old email? And when I asked you what email you would like attached to it, you gave me the very same email that you wrote down on a piece of paper and gave to me to use for the Instagram?”

{At this point the lady with the baby asks: ‘sorry is this a bad time?’}

MC: “No honestly, I’m just ugh - trying to concentrate.”

MC to me: “H—— upset my sister and my family, and I’m digging a hole and I have to be responsible - your family may do that to you but you don’t do that to my family. You’re saying I’m more Bristolian and yes I may be more 'Wester. We don’t have people take it off like that.”

I respond: “I have never said you are a 'Wester or Bristolian Mi-“

{He interrupts me again}

MC: “It was a jokey thing and you respond; ‘for fuck ffff wur’.”

{As you can see from the Instagram comments that I made, at no point did I say ‘for fuck ffff wur’.}

I remind him I did not respond that way: “you tagged me and I repeatedly reminded you that you do have access to the site. I did not write anything that was offensive.”

{He ignores me so I’m just stood there for a bit.}

He then turns to customer S—— and says:

MC: “S——, I don’t want you in.”

She says: “Can I just ask you what I have done?”

MC: “Yes ——————— ++

++ I am not comfortable transcribing this part as his lies and replies were not only offensive, spiteful and borderline associative with Munchausen by proxy. The length of graphical detail he went into as an excuse to cover his lies were absurd, and he also implicated more customers into the lie also. Which is probably why he made the remaining customers swear to:

 “not utter a word of what went on here”.

He also got very irritated with me when I stepped in to oppose his lies and told him to stop being so horrible to S——. He would not let her speak and she left understandably upset. Yet still, she apologised on the way out of the door and he barked:

“too late for that.”

The lies he told after that also, attempting to make himself the victim - were uncomfortable for all, as no one really wanted to acknowledge them, they just wanted to leave, like me.

The shock from this lasted for 6 days and I was suggested to get medical attention. My Doctor (when presented with the facts) put me on a course of 6mg Diazepam per day and signed me off work for a month until the 27th of March.

That following week I was inundated with customers enquiring about my whereabouts, as it appears he continued to lie about the situation. When I have shown them the initial facts/evidence, they are annoyed that Mike has lied to them and left me in this position.

To eliminate this I sent a formal letter of grievance to Hennesseys Coffee Shop to make MC aware of the situation. My initial one is attached after this next document, the one here has been formatted with the help of an HR rep.

-FORMAL LETTER OF GRIEVANCE

Michael Cook

Hennesseys

18 North Street

Southville BS3 1HW

9th March 2020

Dear Michael,

I would like to clarify some key issues before I go any further.

When I came into the café on Friday 28th February, for my shift, I tried to have a reasonable conversation with you, about the unfortunate Instagram situation. I also tried to explain to you what had transpired but, sadly, you were not receptive or responsive to any of my comments, or acknowledge the facts I was referring to.

It became quite clear that you were not prepared to listen to anything I had to say; instead, you made several statements that are incorrect and very untrue. Despite my best efforts, it was clear you’d made up your mind to get rid of me, and you chose a very public way of doing it. I felt humiliated in front of complete strangers and people I consider to be friends. I was really disappointed and upset with the way you behaved.

I have a record of that conversation and of the messages that were posted on the different Insta-accounts.

I have spoken to some of the people you referred to on Friday. They knew nothing at all about what you implicated them in. Furthermore, when I showed them your comments, they said your online response was ‘nasty and manic’. Those who have reached out in the following week have also been appalled by your actions.

So, I ask you to stop telling lies, to those enquiring about my whereabouts; it will limit how much further you are implicating yourself.

I have given over 8 years of loyal support to your business; having worked overtime, when required, and provided you with assistance, whenever you’ve needed it. I believe on many occasions, I have gone “above and beyond”.

I have never asked for any extra money, as you always claim you are ‘poor’. That has, however, by your own admission and actions, not been the case, but I’ve never commented on this, as I needed the job.

I’ve also never mentioned the days when you’ve been, in your words, ‘pissed’ and ‘whacked’, as an excuse for your mistakes which you were

blaming me for. There have been days when I was concerned about the safety of our customers, when you’ve been drunk and out of control.

Again, I needed the work, so I kept quiet and it was only when Chris mentioned about your drinking and you told him you had stopped (when I knew that was not the case), did I realise that I am not the only one who knows. Others have mentioned it as well.

On a personal note, I am appalled and incredibly hurt that you should say the things that you did. Your behaviour has been erratic and unpredictable, over the past year; but I listened to your excuses and assisted you as best I could. As I needed the work, I didn’t complain.
At times, it’s been really stressful for me too but I haven’t taken it out on you, have I?

I just consistently worked and kept going, even when you gave me no notice of taking time off. I have never said anything, just accepted that that is the way you are; your premises, your rules, right?

I’ve kept to my side of the deal, and I would have thought that a little bit of notice would have been decent and reasonable for fair grounds of dismissal.

Yours sincerely,
Sara

________________________________________________________________

- PERSONAL LETTER OF GRIEVANCE

My personal letter of grievance before the HR rep reformatted it:

FAO: Michael Cook of Hennesseys Coffee Shop 18 North Street, Bristol

I have since spoken to almost all of the people you referred to on Friday. They knew nothing about what you implicated them in. When I showed them - they said your response was nasty and manic.

If you could refrain from telling lies to those enquiring about my whereabouts it will limit how much further you are implicating yourself. That should also be applied when talking about all the other people behind their backs.

At some point, you will have to at least acknowledge that you have to be responsible for your words and actions like everyone else does. Your lies and inconsistency in these ‘excuses’ are wearing thin on everyone, and they notice, hence the dip in customers.

I have given over 8 years to support your business. I have worked overtime and provided you with work that I could to help you out with the resources I have, and never asked for a penny, as you made out you were poor. It has since been evident, by your own doing, that this is not the case.

Your persona has been erratic over the past year, and the excuses kept flowing. The past 6 months have been like treading on eggshells yet still I persisted in doing the job I was assigned to do, I kept my head down and worked to the best of my ability. However, your attitude over the last few weeks has gone from bad to worse. Blaming me for things I haven’t even done. Rude outbursts and passive-aggressive comments which I did not acknowledge because, to remain professional, I simply got on with the job I was there to do. The fact - as you say ‘I’m just pissed / I’m pissed / god I’m whacked / sorry - had one too many drinks this morning / I can’t see what I’ve typed into the till I’m too whacked’, has been risen to me as a cause of concern by customers - but as you say ‘it’s my business - I can do what I like - to which I remind them ‘I’m sorry I’m just here for the lunch shift’.

To use me and my sister as scape-goat as a reason for sacking is grounds for unfair dismissal, especially when you referred to something that was on a public platform. She didn’t even realise it was you until you confirmed that for her, she just thought it was the landlord trolling the Hennessys account. So, as I explained you dropped yourself in it and then persisted to dig yourself deeper. As I reminded you, you had the opportunity to amend your mistake, yet you carried on with such a public nonsensical thread - which you then contradicted again on Friday.

None of this makes sense. Your random words and accusations don’t make sense. Your lies, including those about me and other people, don’t make sense. The excuses you have used before for your outbursts, I have now realised weren’t even true, which is bizarre, to say the least.

I am going to suggest you go and speak to someone about your current behaviour because I think you may have something wrong that you are not aware of. If that is not the case and you are doing these things consciously then it shows it was premeditated. Whilst you are happy to throw away 8 years of service this way, from an empathic point of view - I think you really need to find some help.

Sincerely,

S.Dallimore

- REFERENCES:

The Instagram post in question:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9CqzH0BRoV/? utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

One of the customers* who was verbally abused and barred at the same time as me:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9OndACF86b/? utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

*Please note: This is in reference to the person who he had a go at because she left a note explaining what to do if she had a relapse due to her illness so we know what to do.

She has always been a kind, courteous and patient customer. She has left thank-you’s and brought small token gifts in to show her appreciation for the hospitality and consideration.

The Instagram page: castle.eden is now removed and is now called: https://www.instagram.com/13smarties/
@13smarties • Instagram photos and videos

The Hennesseys Instagram account I am referring to is: http://www.instagram.com/hennesseyscoffeeshop

UNCOVERING: part two


What happened to the £10,000 Government Grant given to businesses during the lockdowns? No business rates were taken from the local council during the pandemic, and neither was he charged any rent.
I know I only worked there for 8 years, but this is news to me. It never happened whilst I working there. Leftovers were either boxed up for the following day or shared amongst his friends. I would be interested to know which is these charities said that they were able to feed the homeless with his leftovers.
This only scrapes the surface of the inconsistencies over the past 5 years, or so. The recent fundraising for the cafe pulls up more questions than answers. Perhaps another fib told to well-meaning people (I know, I've been there!) that has escalated into a media frenzy has resulted in people's goodwill donations propping up one of his businesses.