Employee Quits Marriott Accompanied by a Marching Band

Some employees like to go out in style -- and embarrass their employees while doing it. Fed up with his job at a Marriott Hotel, Joey DeFrancesco brought a marching band with him to tell his boss that he quit. Why waste time writing a boring resignation letter to just one manager when a "Joey Quits" video can be viewed by over 2 million people within 10 days? 

According to Joey, "The working conditions in the hotel are horrendous." He had more to say to CBS News. Apparently, some of the YouTube comments were getting annoying, so he added this note, "I have another, better job already. So stop talking about that and worry about your own jobs."

A Marriott spokesperson confirmed that Joey had worked at the Marriott Renaissance in Rhode Island for three years and made this statement: 

"You know that we take employee satisfaction very seriously as a company - creating a sense of community and pride within our hotels is a top priority. The Renaissance Providence actually has a number of employee programs in place that encourage health, wellness and employee satisfaction. While this is an unfortunate way for an employee to resign, we are confident that hotel management works closely with staff to continue to find ways to make the hotel a rewarding place to work for everyone."

Discussion Starters:

• After watching the video and reading the background information, do you sympathize more with Joey or with the hotel? Why?
• How credible do you find Joey? How do you assess his credibility?
• Evaluate the Marriott spokesperson's response. What is effective and ineffective?