When Marcus got hired to work at the first legal weed dispensary in Toronto, he didn't expect to come face to face with a puddle of human feces.
But Marcus, 22, quit his budtender position at the Hunny Pot Cannabis Co. after he alleged the company mishandled two floods, including one where his colleagues were asked to clean up sewage water without proper equipment.
"It smelled like shit," Marcus said.
In a separate flood, Marcus alleged management offered water-damaged containers of cannabis to staff at a discount. He said he didn't realize the water may have been contaminated with sewage.
Marcus and five other former Hunny Pot employees who spoke to VICE described a chaotic and at times unsanitary environment, with racial microaggressions and payroll issues. They described a culture of fear, where management played favourites among staff, and those who spoke up were punished or faced "jokes" about being fired. The workers (five out of six declined to use their real names due to privacy concerns, and are identified by first name pseudonyms) showed VICE documentation of their grievances, including a letter they gave to management in October.
"I had to leave for my own mental health," Marcus said.
All six former employees quit their jobs.
When I spoke to the Hunny Pot's owner Hunny Gawri, a real estate agent, on opening day, he admitted he had very limited knowledge about cannabis but said his retail experience would allow him to run a successful shop. The store is opening a second location in Burlington soon.
But the Hunny Pot made several gaffes from the get-go. It wasn't wheelchair-accessible; it was accused of overcharging its customers; and, as VICE reported, the shop's publicist pretended to be its first customer in a television interview, during which she raved about the service she received. A shirt worn by a white female employee bearing the slogan "I run on weed & gangsta rap," was criticized by some as being tone deaf considering that Black people are disproportionately arrested for cannabis crimes and often left out of the legal industry.
Sara, 27, was among the first cohort of Hunny Pot employees. She said from the first day of orientation, prior to the store launch, there was something off.
"This big old white dude comes in the room in front of all the people and announces, 'I don't partake in this stuff, I'm just the money,'" she said.
Sara told VICE a fellow employee at the meeting talked about how she'd gone through chemotherapy and was concerned about the lack of a railing on the stairs.
According to Sara, the man, who she believes is an investor with the company, abruptly responded that the Hunny Pot wasn't the place for people with trouble walking. Another former employee who was present during the orientation corroborated Sara's claim.
"That kind of theme is kind of what carried on with every issue," Sara said. "The safety of workers, the happiness of workers, anything to do with their people, it was completely second thought."
Sewage floods
On September 28, a sewage pipe in the Hunny Pot's basement caused flooding. The area is where the former employees said they clocked in and out for their shifts and includes the vault, where cannabis products are stocked.
When Jake, another Hunny Pot budtender, showed up at work that morning, he said everyone was "in a panic and confused" over the flood. According to Jake, his manager Carlo Bernabe was cracking jokes and encouraging people to go downstairs where the flood was most active in order to clock in.
You could actually see the floor was brown," he said, noting there were parts of the floor that looked like slush.
Racial microaggressions
Jake, who is Black, said he was subjected to racist remarks by one of the store's supervisors.
He alleged that during one shift that supervisor told him that he was the "perfect" person to guard the store because he's a "big Black guy." That same day, he alleged she remarked on his Ankh necklace and asked if he was going to "summon fertility from the gods." Jake said soon after she made the comments, the supervisor stopped working for the Hunny Pot.
‘It Smelled Like Shit.’ Why These Workers Quit Hunny Pot Toronto’s First Legal Weed Shop
Sewage floods, missing pay, and racial microaggressions all contributed to an unbearable work environment, according to six former Hunny Pot employees who spoke to VICE.
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