Worker who tells reporter about challenges of raising a family with a low-income job is terminated from one job.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
A Subway worker told Oregonian reporter Andrew Theen about the challenges of raising a family with a low-income job. The next week, Keith Fons learned he no longer had one of his jobs.
A misunderstanding of why he did not collect overtime wages might have been the cause.
Although Fons worked up to 80 hours every week, he believed he did not accrue overtime because the stores were separate entities. State labor regulators say that is correct if the companies are truly distinct.
When he was terminated, Fons said, he was told the working arrangement was a “legal gray area.” Charlie Burr, a spokesman for the state Bureau of Labor and Industries, said the agency would look into the arrangement if it received a complaint – but it had not.
Dennis, who owns the two companies that run the Subway franchises where Fons worked, declined an interview request and hung up on a reporter Monday. In a voicemail, he confirmed Fons still worked full time at the U.S. Bank tower store.
(READ MORE: OregonLive.com)
Fons’ wife has multiple sclerosis.
In recent years, Subway has not shielded itself effectively from criticism as it has employed a convicted child rapist as a spokesman and has had the quality of their food questioned.
