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Former employees set to protest at local cafe

Former employees set to protest at local cafe
Former employees set to protest at local cafe
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Former workers are set to protest a Tallahassee cafe days after staging a boycott.

WTXL ABC 27's Jada Williams takes a look the rights a fired employee has in a right to work state.

The right to work is defined in the Florida's constitution. So while an employer can fire an employee at any time, in some cases legal action can be taken.

This is an at-will state, which means an employer may fire, demote, hire, promote and discipline employees for pretty much any reason, or no reason at all.

However, with proof of misconduct, be it sexual harassment or bias, a former employee has the means to seek legal action.

In this case, many of the cafe's former employees have taken to Facebook, sharing stories of the misconduct in the workplace and screen grabs of messages.

The owners have since disconnected the phone line due to so many calls coming in, but did post an apology on Facebook, saying the employees were friends that they had to lay off due to costs and not for any other reason.

"We hired people we wanted to help, not positions we needed filled. It was a horrific oversight, and one we take full blame for."

But the group of former workers say they don't want things to have to escalate that far.

The protest starts at 3 p.m. Thursday at the restaurant.