The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

3 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,F ebruary 6,2020 w aterloochronicle.ca YOUR CITY Visit waterloochronicle.ca for more coverage Brian Haase says he wants to pay his 190 employees the money they are owed -- but the issue is that he can't. The now-former owner-opera- tor of four Boston Pizzas in Wa- terloo, Kitchener and Stratford, wants to clear the air about why the locations suddenly shuttered, leaving 190 employees without work and without their final pay. The truth, he says, is that Bos- ton Pizza corporate is not cooper- ating and the payroll account has been frozen by his bank. Haase wasn't able to escape the increasing cost of business in the hospitality industry, due to minimum wage increases and competition from delivery servic- es. The decline came to a head this past summer when Haase, who had has been a franchisee of Boston Pizza for 15 years, contact- ed head office looking for sup- port. His requests fell on deaf ears. Haase contacted Alex Hunsen, who is a consultant, to help him through the debt process. Hun- sen agreed to take on the file for free. By this point, Haase was about $4 to $5 million in debt as he heavily subsidized the operating expenses of the four restaurants -- three in Waterloo region and another in Stratford. They met in person at Boston Pizza Canada's headquarters in Mississauga on Jan. 20 and claim they were told that the corporate side could not help. Haase has found a new owner who was will- ing to take over one location, but Boston Pizza didn't respond. The evening of Jan. 21, Haase discovered his payroll account was frozen. Jan. 24 at 6 a.m., employees re- ceived an email saying the loca- tions had been shut down. The reaction on social media was swift and fierce. A Twitter account, which has since been de- activated, was created to express the concerns of employees. Hun- dreds of people commented on so- cial media, blaming ownership. While many of the 190 affected employees showed their dismay, some employees are understand- ing of the situation. Leah Sebben, who was a serv- er at the King Street North loca- tion, said she's upset about losing her job, but she understands and hopes for the best for Haase. "It is true that we haven't re- ceived our last pay cheque, but quite frankly, my last pay cheque isn't worth the pain that (they) are going through," said Sebben, who is a bachelor of design stu- dent at Conestoga College. "I think it's easy to be angry by be- ing blindsided, but I think every- one needs to realize what's going on." With the payroll account fro- zen, Hunsen says, the only option is to utilize the Government of Canada's Wage Earner Protec- tion Program. If companies go bankrupt, or enter receivership, the government of Canada will cover unpaid wages to ensure that all employees get paid. The only thing that stands in the way of accessing those funds? Filing for bankrupcy. According to Haase and his wife, there are no funds left. They have borrowed more than $1 mil- lion from family members. Haase's wife has cashed in her Registered Retirement Savings Plan funds. With at least a $25,000 price tag to declare bankruptcy, Hunsen and Haase are hoping that Boston Pizza can step in and pay what is essentially "petty cash" to the corporation, in order to help employees. Now, as Haase, his wife and his three young children pick up the pieces, they feel they're being un- fairly targeted. "The attacks are addressed at the wrong people," said Hunsen. "I feel that I did everything I possibly could to protect those employees and keep them in work," said Haase. The Haase family is hoping that by explaining their side of the story, the personal attacks can stop. They are most con- cerned about their children and what they hear. "I think it's most important for me that they know why the doors are closed, why they're out their money and why there was no no- tice," said Haase. Boston Pizza did not respond to a request for comment. 'THE ATTACKS ARE ADDRESSED AT THE WRONG PEOPLE': LOCAL BOSTON PIZZA FRANCHISEE CLEARS AIR The Ottawa Street location, pictured, was one of the three Waterloo Region locations to close suddenly on Jan. 24. Brent Davis,Waterloo Region Record ADAM JACKSON ajackson@waterloochronicle.ca HIS HANDS ARE TIED, SAYS FRANCHISEE BRIAN HAASE "I feel that I did everything I possibly could to protect those employees and keep them in work." - Owner-operator Brian Haase