2nd Stella's executive fired after harassment allegations surfaced in 'Not My Stella's' campaign - Action News
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2nd Stella's executive fired after harassment allegations surfaced in 'Not My Stella's' campaign

The owners of Stella's Caf and Bakery say they have decided to let go of regional manager Brad Burrows, who was on leave after allegations of widespread workplace harassment toward past and current employees surfaced on social media.

Regional manager Brad Burrows 'released' after 3rd-party review completed: Winnipeg restaurant chain owners

The owners of Stella's say they have decided to 'release' regional manager Brad Burrows from his position, about one month after allegations of widespread workplace harassment surfaced on social media. (Ron Boileau/Radio-Canada)

The owners of Stella's Caf and Bakery say they have firedregional managerBrad Burrows, who was on leave after allegations of widespread workplace harassment toward past and current employees at the Winnipeg restaurant chainsurfaced on social media.

The announcement comes just over aweek after the company said it had decided to fire Grant Anderson, who was vice-president of operations with the chain.

The removal ofAnderson andBurrows from their positions was among the demands issued by the "Not My Stella's" campaign, which brought the troubling allegations to light. Both executives were put on leave last month.

The owners of Stella's, ToreSohlbergandLehlaAbreder, announced in an emailed update Saturday that they had "released" Burrows followingthe completion of a third-party review of Stella's practices and policies byPeople First HR Services.

Left to right: Christina Hajjar, Kelsey Wade and Amanda Murdock, who helped create the Not My Stella's campaign, at a Nov. 10 news conference. The campaign called for the removal of two executives, both of whom have now been fired by the chain. (Warren Kay/CBC)

The news release saidStella's will make "operational and policy changes," including establishing a human resources department and training program, now that the review of thebusiness is complete.

Sohlbergand Abreder said in the releasethe review found their business had insufficient training in leadership and operational policies, andinconsistent, decentralized communications.

As well, the review found Stella'sneeded clearer guidelinesonbreaks,shift trading and "tipping out"a common practice in which servers pay into a pool that managers then distribute to non-tip-receiving staff.

The review also found the chain needed anenhanced and well-defined process for handling confidential complaints.

To address these issues, the owners say they planto take a number of steps, including establishing the HR department, which will report directly to them. It will be responsible for improving communications and training, they said.

Centralized employee communications, regular training on policies and procedures for managers, and "establishing an employee culture committee thatliaisesdirectly with the owners of the company" were also promised.

The review took aboutfour weeks to complete, and involvedreviewing existing documentation, interactions with current employees, interviews with formeremployees and respectful workplace training for managers and staff.

As well, confidential 24-hour voicemail and email contacts were createdfor current and former staff to provide feedback, the owners said.

Read the statement from Stella's:

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