The owner of the now shuttered Farm restaurant is responding to complaints from former employees and suppliers about unpaid wages and invoices.
READ MORE: Former Farm restaurant employees upset over unpaid wages after owner claims insolvency
A video, titled “Janice Beaton’s Response to the media coverage regarding FARM,” was posted on Janice Beaton Fine Cheese’s Facebook page late Wednesday night.
The post begins by saying she wants to clarify information around the financial turmoil resulting from the closure of her restaurant last May.
“It was beyond our control and we had to do what we did,” the post said. “What mattered most as we led up to those days, the final days of Farm, was that staff got paid for wages that were owing to them, right up until that last day. We were able to do that. We were able to pay those wages, however, there was vacation pay owing because we just didn’t have the funds to cover those amounts.”
Three employees went public earlier this week, suggesting together they’re owed about $7,000 in unpaid vacation and termination pay. They said they weren’t given any notice about Farm’s closure or their layoffs which happened on the Tuesday after the Victoria Day long weekend.
“From that closure now, I’m dealing with the consequences of a failed business,” Beaton said. “That involves a consumer proposal which essentially means that all of my assets go to paying the creditors of Farm.”
A number of past employees have filed an Employment Standards complaint with the province but were told the money can be difficult to recover.
“She had many options to go about this,” Ryan McLeash, a former manager at Farm, said. “She could have gone through the bankruptcy process and then all the employees could have been compensated.”
What further outraged employees was the opening of Mabou Cheese + Bar months later, at the same location on 17 Avenue.
- Invasive strep: ‘Don’t wait’ to seek care, N.S. woman warns on long road to recovery
- Several baby products have been recalled by Health Canada. Here’s the list
- Canadian food banks are on the brink: ‘This is not a sustainable situation’
- Is home ownership only for the rich now? 80% say yes in new poll
“In the Farm space now, there is a new enterprise, which has come about through the forgiveness of the landlord and the generous support of good friends,” Beaton said in the Facebook video. “Yes, I am a partner in this project; I am a 50 per cent owner. But I have no money invested because the consumer proposal dictates I have no money to invest.”
“If she’s an employee she’s obviously garnishing some kind of wage,” McLeash said. “To me, in a fair world, that salary would be garnished until she paid off the rest of her employees.”
Greg Gannon, who was a cook at Farm, said he had high hopes when he initially saw Beaton had posted a response.
At the end of the video, Beaton offers an apology to former employees and suppliers of Farm. “I wish with all my heart that the outcome had been different,” she said.
“This is, without a doubt, one of the most painful experiences of my life.”
Gannon said he feels the video wasn’t directed to staff, and that none of them have been apologized to directly.
“Of course I have some sympathy for her because I have a heart, but there was no sympathy for us when we were let go without any notice and lost pay,” he said.
“She brought this upon herself.”
While some people have responded to Beaton’s video with messages of support, many others continued to criticize her actions, saying they would no longer support her businesses.
McLeash said he still has friends working at Beaton’s cheese shop and is worried about the toll her situation is taking on them. He said one of them told him “things are really intense and very stressful.”
Beaton has so far not responded to Global News’ requests for comment.
Comments