Special needs township woman fired from Panera Bread, mom says

By Nicole M. Wells

A township woman with special needs was fired from Panera Bread on Center Street Aug. 13 after being unable to perform additional tasks that she was not initially hired for, her family said.

In a post on Facebook, Rita Mueller said her daughter Jenni Barkhorn, who has Down Syndrome, was fired in the middle of her shift and was crying when she picked her up from the restaurant following her termination.

Jenni was hired two and a half years ago by a manager who is no longer employed at the location, Rita said. She performed tasks such as washing down the tables and chairs, carpet sweeping and sometimes cleaning the windows.

Her new manager, Ryan, gave Jenni added responsibilities that were beyond her abilities, Rita said.

“Jenni told me she kept saying, ‘Ryan, I have to go make the coffee. I can’t do this right now,’” she said of her daughter’s termination experience. “When the job coach explained the circumstances to Jenni and she realized what was happening, she left the room, went back toward the dining room and broke down in tears.”

When Rita arrived to pick her up, Jenni was still crying.

“She held me in the entrance and sobbed as if her best friend had just died,” Rita said.

An employee at the Sparta location said staff there would not be commenting on what happened and referred questions to Panera Bread’s media contact.

Panera Bread today stated, "We are fully investigating this situation and will review our policies and procedures to make sure this and every employee are treated the right way."