NEWS & OPINION FEATURE
TROUBLE IN PARADISE
Workers speak out about toxic atmosphere in one of Charlotte’s most popular eateries BY DION BEARY
Pg. 4 MAR 23 - APR 5, 2022 - QCNERVE.COM
In the decade since its 2012 opening, 5Church — recently renamed Church & Union — has consistently been one of the most popular restaurants in Charlotte. Owners Patrick Whalen and Alejandro Torio have received praise for their flagship establishment, as well as other restaurants under the 5th Street Group (5SG) umbrella, which includes La Belle Helene and Sophia’s Lounge in Charlotte, and Church & Union locations in Charleston and Nashville. But now a series of allegations has surfaced accusing Whalen and Torio of fostering a work culture of intimidation, bullying and problematic behavior. The allegations first surfaced on Dec. 23, 2021, on the anonymous Instagram account Overheard in Charlotte. Queen City Nerve tracked down the sources of the submissions and independently verified their employment at 5th Street Group as well as reviewed multiple emails and direct messages related to their stories. For this report, Queen City Nerve interviewed three former staff members, two former managers, and an 18-year-old woman who said she interviewed for a job at Sophia’s Lounge. Most have chosen to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation by Whalen. “So many employees have been witness to the awful work environment, but everyone is scared to come out,” the manager said. “Pat is the type of individual that is prone to retaliate if someone disagrees with them,” another former manager added.
Pandemic problems
On May 18, 2020, 5Church began plans to reopen its Uptown restaurant as the COVID-19 pandemic raged on. In an email reviewed by Queen City Nerve, 5Church general manager Brad Grubb promised employees $600 per week to come back for “lots of projects” prior to the restaurant’s reopening.
5CHURCH OPENED IN UPTOWN CHARLOTTE IN 2012 AND WAS RECENTLY RENAMED TO CHURCH & UNION. Staff was told in the email that if they did not want to return at that rate of pay to do the projects, they would be terminated. Grubb did not respond to an email requesting a comment for this story. “If you choose not to come back to work this week and stay on unemployment, you will not be able to return to 5Church at a later date,” said the email. “It’s not fair for some to kick back and collect unemployment, while the rest of the team is here getting things done to prepare for the reopening.” Three weeks later, on June 9, Grubb announced pay would be cut from $600 per week to $300 per week. This was three weeks prior to the planned reopening. 5Church promised to make up the difference upon reopening. “You will all be compensated for the difference over the first two weeks we are open, so this money will be paid back to everyone as soon as we start bringing in some guests,” read an email to employees that was shared with Queen City Nerve. Employees said they were never compensated for the difference as promised. According to publicly available data, 5Church was approved for $349,000 in Paycheck Protection Program funds two months prior to that email being sent.
A group of employees, frustrated with the cut in pay, drafted a letter to owner Patrick Whalen. They sent it via an anonymous email account because none of them felt “particularly comfortable” speaking to Whalen directly. Whalen reportedly responded that he would not have any communication with the anonymous account. The employees then attempted to take their concerns to Grubb. When Whalen caught wind, he sent a message to Grubb and instructed Grubb to screenshot the message and send it to the employees. “Going to any manager with this subject is not appropriate, as Brad is not in a position to address your concerns,” said Whalen’s message, which has been shared with Queen City Nerve. During a private manager’s meeting, the employees’ frustration was once again raised. Multiple people familiar with the meeting told us Whalen stated, “They’re fucking lucky to have jobs at all.” Whalen declined to comment on that conversation for this article. When 5Church re-opened in late June 2020, server Olivia Fernandez was asked to work at both the Charleston and Charlotte locations. Fernandez told us that, due to South Carolina’s more lax COVID
PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN
policies, the Charleston location was crowded and many patrons didn’t wear masks. Because of the workload and packed restaurants, Fernandez took regular COVID tests, worried she’d contract the virus at work. When she did test positive, she says she immediately informed management. Fernandez was then terminated while in quarantine for COVID. Another server was terminated as well. Management had housed the two together when they traveled to Charleston to work at that location. “It was made clear to me that the ownership ultimately made the decision,” Fernandez said. “My manager Brad [Grubb] was the one forced to call us on a conference call as we were still in quarantine and he told us that, against his own wishes, he had to terminate us.” In an email with Whalen following her termination, which Fernandez shared with Queen City Nerve, Fernandez said, “I hope you take the time to look at what an amazing staff you have and appreciate them going forward, instead of targeting them and blaming them for something completely out of their control.” She also expressed frustration at finding herself jobless during a pandemic.
