July 2, 2009 08:38 PM EDT
Steak-n-Shake? Playing Fair?
UPDATE 9:27pm - Thursday:
According to the IndyStar.com dated June 30, 2009, the CEO of Steak-n-Shake (Sardar Biglari) just got a 221 % INCREASE in his salary. The Board of Directors just voted to triple his annual salary. According the June 30, 2009 article, Biglari also has 2.4 MILLION shares of the corporation. We looked up the share price and it is now $8.45/share....so you do the math: how much are 2,400,000 shares worth? (By the way, a GretaWire blogger tipped me off to this story...and thank you!)
In the article, Diane Denis, a professor at Purdue University's Krannert School of Management is quoted as saying this about the 221 % increase in the CEO's pay "..I don't have a gut level reaction that says this is ridiculous, but if I were a shareholder I'd want to know more."
What do YOU think?
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This is going to outrage you....or I think it will. It sure makes me mad. We all may be able to help.
Before you read below the email from On The Record at 10pm viewer Randy about his wife Patricia, you should know the information outlined below (I called and spoke to them):
1/ Patricia has worked at Steak-n-Shake for 25 years.
2/ Patricia started at Steak-n-Shake 25 years ago at $1.86 an hour and now makes $6.15 an hour.
3/ In the last 6 months, Patricia has averaged 33.7 hours per week. She wants to work more hours - 35 hours per week. There is a reason why her hours are at 33.7. The company is the reason. Read #4.
4/ Patricia developed breast cancer in 2007 and has had 8 surgeries since then -- but still works hard for the company.
5/ Patricia had health insurance through Steak-n-Shake. The requirement to maintain the health insurance was 22 hours per week. That number - 22 hours - was increased in January to 35 hours per week.
6/ Despite her cancer, Patricia continues to work very hard. She tries to work the 35 hours but Steak-n-Shake would not maintain a schedule so she could work the 35 hours. She has witnesses to prove she wants to work 35 hours but she says Steak-n-Shake interfered and sometimes even makes her go home early.
7/ In the last 6 months the company says her weekly average is 33.7 / week. In other words, she is shy less than 90 minutes to meet that 35 hour threshold for health insurance that was increased in January.
8/ Patricia has TRIED to work more hours but gets sent home! She WANTS to work 35 hours a week -- 90 minutes more per week - so that she can get her MEDICAL CARE (ie live!)
9/ As a result -- she has been notified that she has lost her health insurance, her dental, her life, her husband's life, her daughter's life and her disability insurance.
Is Steak-n-Shake playing fair? Now read the email below from Patricia's husband sent to me which provoked me into finding them....and into posting this :
By the way, what should we here on GretaWire do? Should we all email Steak-n-Shake? We can't find an email address for them......maybe you can? Please help me come up with a way to try and help this family.
By the way, can someone please post the names of the Board of Directors of the Corporation?
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Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 7:20 PM
To: Show -OnTheRecord
Subject: wifeHi Gretta. ..... we have a problem. My wife has fought Breast Cancer for 2 years now. She has been through Hell and has worked all she could for Steak-n-Shake for 25 years yes 25 years. all she is going through and still has major health issues she went to work on June 30th and was told she has no more health insurance because she didnt matain the 35 hrs a week in the last 6 months average. This woman is ill and she just had a iron transfussion on MondayJune 29th and needs more she has had a rough way to go and still does but puts everything she can just to go to work. they know she needs her innsurance and her 35 hrs a week to keep it she has witnesses to prove that. the fault lies on this company for not mataining a schedule properly so they wouldnt have to send her home early. They dont know how to schedule people so they dont have an over abdundance so they dont make her go home early as i said she has witnesses to prove that she told them she needed her 35 hrs and they still told her that they had to cut labor. now tell where the fault lies. she has no insurance and still needs treatments and is a mess. I really wnat this to go nationally. I want this company to be brought to their knees by the Media. Everyone needs to know. a 25 year employee and look what they have done for what she has been through and is still going through, and no insurance. she has had 2 double myestomeys yes 2 and what a mess. Gretta i am asking for your help to spread this company thin for doing her this way. I thank you very much for her time. looking forward to hearing from you. Sincerely Randy Lee Ford
And someone from Menendez' office [Ed.: Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ] promised that he would make sure that "the useless barriers of citizenship would not be in this bill" and that he would make sure that they would use keywords like "streamline"...Please read the article and use the information at the end to take action!
They actually got up and said "Latino children need health care more than whites". And then they would say things like "you must go out into your communities, use words like 'streamline', use phrases like 'all workers' and 'all families'," because they said -- and I quote -- "If the American people find out that this bill is about giving health care to non-citizens, they will rise up against it."
