Netflix’s documentary series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is the most popular TV program in the entire world right now. Thanks to the utter insanity of the people at the center of the doc, and the fact that everyone is stuck at home amidst this pandemic, Tiger King has become a global sensation. The acclaim and adoration are rolling in for the show’s wealthy co-director Eric Goode, which is causing some frustration for many of his former employees. In addition to his work with the documentary, Goode is a restaurant and hotel owner in New York. He also happened to lay off a lot of his employees at the onset of the pandemic, and has yet to offer them any sort of compensation to get them through this tough time.
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According to Buzzfeed News, Goode fired roughly 70 waiters and cooks from popular restaurant B Bar and Grill, a property that he owns along with the Bowery Hotel, the Jane Hotel, and the Waverly Inn. Since being fired, the staff, some of which have worked for Goode’s restaurant for more than 20 years, have yet to hear a thing from their former employer.
“We made him a lot of money,” said Arturo Vasquez, who worked at B Bar for 22 years. “I was always there. I never missed it… At the least, leave me with compensation or something to help with this problem we have.”
Vasquez, along with a few other B Bar employees, told Buzzfeed that they are frustrated with Goode’s complete lack of help, especially when they see other wealthy hospitality owners giving up salaries and fundraising money to pay the staff they had to let go.
“They have families, they have children, they have mortgages to pay, and they spent a lot of their life working for B Bar,” said Luis Lugo, a former floor manager. “You’re the director of Tiger King and you own the Jane Hotel and you’re not a small mom-and-pop shop that’s struggling. You’re someone that has the financial resources to make a difference.”
“I have no access to unemployment, I have no access to the stimulus check, I have no access to nothing except my last check,” he continued. “To have been profitable for so many years on the back of these people and not even say, ‘Hey, guys, here’s a couple thousand dollars’ seemed really unfair to me.”
Goode did not respond to Buzzfeed for comment, and neither did restaurant general manager Aaron Perez.
