A chef secretly filmed the moment she was fired for “the worst day at work her boss had ever seen” – as he claimed she spent “hours” on her phone instead of working.
Sophie Alcock was so furious at being fired after just two weeks that she filmed herself informing her former boss at Toast, in Withington, Manchester, that she had told everyone not to visit so his business would “suffer”.
The 20-year-old claims she went to work on July 6 and told pub owner Matt that she may have been ‘distracted’ as she received her diplomas.
The history student says that the next day she heard a ‘rumor’ from another employee that she was going to be fired for her ‘attitude’.
After emailing Matt to find out if the rumor was true, he replied to tell her that she was “no longer required to work at Toast.”
Chef Sophie Alcock (pictured), 20, secretly filmed the moment she was fired for ‘the worst day at work her boss had ever seen’ – as he claimed she spent ‘hours’ on her phone instead of working
Sophie went to confront her boss and she secretly filmed the moment he fired her – as he claimed she spent ‘four hours’ on the phone
Sophie Alcock was so furious about being fired after just two weeks that she filmed herself informing her former boss at Toast (pictured), in Withington, Manchester, that she had told everyone not to visit so his business was ‘suffering’
Furious, Sophie went to confront Matt the next day and she secretly filmed the moment he fired her – because he claimed she had been on the phone for ‘four hours’.
However, Sophie claims her phone shows she was only on the phone for two hours and 50 minutes that day, and part of that was before and after the shift.
While she admits she was on the phone a lot at work, she said it was only “about an hour” during her nine-hour shift and also took two 10-minute breaks to eat and see if her results had been announced.
Despite admitting her service had been “not perfect” and she “could have done better,” the student says her exam results were “extenuating circumstances.”
She claims her former boss could have told her he “wanted her to do more work” and not have fired her.
The recording shows her threatening that “most of the people” she has served are friends of hers who “will no longer come to his place” – before saying that she “really hopes he suffers.”
Sophie learned she had a first-class degree, but the moment was “overshadowed by her dismissal.”
Toast confirmed that Sophie no longer works for them, but declined to outline “the reasons” – instead offering to contact them if she would like to discuss it further and wishing her well for the future.
Despite admitting her service was ‘not perfect’ and that she ‘could have done better’, student Sophie (pictured) says her exam results were ‘extenuating circumstances’
Sophie, from Wimborne, Dorset, said: ‘The way he fired me was so unprofessional and he couldn’t give me a good reason.
“He met me once and watched me work one day and it was the day I got my degree. I was very worried.
“I told him I got my results and maybe I was a little distracted, he seemed like it was OK.
‘He didn’t say I didn’t do my job well. I came out every order on time.
“I went in the next day and one of the other chefs came in at the end of the shift.
‘It was weird. She said “has Matt talked to you?” and I half jokingly said “no, am I getting fired?” and they said yes probably.
‘I asked why and she said ‘I don’t know, something to do with your attitude’.
“I left work in tears. I was very worried because I didn’t know if I was fired, it was a rumor.
“I emailed him asking what was going on and he asked me to talk to him the next day. I asked him to confirm if I was fired and he said I was no longer needed.
“He couldn’t be bothered to do it face to face.
‘I just moved into a flat and I’m unemployed. I have to explain to my next employer that I’ve been fired.
“I’m more ashamed than anything because others knew before I did.”
Sophie went to the cafe the next day to confront Matt and secretly recorded the conversation.
Matt is heard asking Sophie if she wants to be paid for her service and goes on to tell her she will be, but ‘that’s the end of it’.
He tells Sophie that he “can’t let anyone do so little work” in the company.
He accuses Sophie of spending four hours on the phone and not showing that she is a hard worker.
During the confrontation, Sophie steps in to ask Matt if he “always interrupts women” and he says he doesn’t like where the conversation is going.
She tells him she asked permission to take breaks and that there were “extenuating circumstances” because she wanted to see her degree results, but Matt says it’s “not his problem” and it shouldn’t have happened on his time.
He eventually tells Sophie she’s not right for the business and she says she’s going to tell her friends to avoid the coffee shop.
After emailing her boss, he replied to inform Sophie that she was ‘no longer required to work at Toast’
Sophie’s screen time on her iPhone, which she says shows that
Sophie said: ‘It wasn’t much of a conversation, I got upset and he said he didn’t like where the conversation was going.
“He actually said I was lazy and it was the worst day at work he’d ever seen, but everyone I know will testify that I’m not a lazy person.
“I could have performed better. I’m not saying my service was perfect, but I had extenuating circumstances. He could have told me how he wants to run his kitchen, but he just fired me.
“If I had a sub-optimal work day, he should have told me and not fired me out of the blue because of a work day that was a really stressful one.
“I said I had iPhone proof that I wasn’t on my phone for four hours.
“I was on my phone for two hours and 50 minutes all day and that was mostly before and after my shift.
“I was on it for about an hour, 10 to 15 minutes every now and then, and I took two breaks to go outside.
“When I was in the kitchen on my phone, there were no orders.
“He also attacked me for food. When I came in at eight I ate a bagel with hummus and between twelve and two I ate a cheese and tomato sandwich.’
A spokesperson for Toast said: ‘Toast hired Sophie for two weeks in June/July and we are very sorry to hear that she is not happy with her time with us.
“We don’t want to violate the confidentiality of the employment relationship between Toast and Sophie by commenting at length on the reasons why she is no longer with us.
‘During our six years as an independent high street cafe we have aimed to create a great atmosphere for both customers and staff, but we accept that this is not Sophie’s experience.
“We’ve reached out to see if she’d like to discuss her concerns further and we’re taking her point of view and looking at improvements we can make. Sophie is paid for the hours she has worked. We wish her the best in the future.’