does anyone know if the idiot manager from the texas hooters "Jimbo" from undercover boss got fired?

Question

does anyone know if the idiot manager from the texas hooters "Jimbo" from undercover boss got fired?

Answer 1

I am a former Hooters employee of 5 years. It has been brought to my attention by some Arlington friends that the whole "Jimbo" scene on CBS's Undercover Boss HOOTERS was 100% scripted by CBS. That it was filmed before the store opened and that he was acting the entire time. They all knew it was Coby, they were compensated to play along. There is no "Undercover" at all in this un-reality show. Word is that Jimbo was a good manager. He was w/ Hooters for over 10 years.



Should he have gone along with it? Well when you are in a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation, what do you do? Pressured by the CEO to do it & go along and hope for the best or use your own best judgement and not do it... Either way - he lost. Because of the backlash of the show - he has resigned.



Hooters has had a VERY protective policy against any kind of harassment in place for at least 20 years. I was there for 5 years and if ANY manager crossed any line, the girls put a stop immediately to it by either contacting their regional managers, the franchise owner, or the toll free corporate hotline number that all employees are given. I don’t know one Hooter’s Girl who would put up with the antics that they had Jimbo pull in the show for even one shift.



There are several inconsistencies in the filming of the show as well. Anyone who works at Hooters could spot them a mile away. It was obvious that it was not filmed during business hours, that the girls were too clean to have just come off of a lunch rush, there were no customers in the restaurant, the jukebox was off, not all of the TV's were on, etc...



Coby should be ashamed for trying to pull off this scam and CBS cannot be trusted with reality just like Kanye can’t be trusted to be on LIVE tv.

Answer 2

Just heard somebody got an email from Hooters saying that Jimbo has resigned. I'm sure he got quite some responses at the store location.



My take is this: If he was for real as shown on the show, I had espected for him to get fired. Not firing him was not a great advertising for the chain. On the other hand: There are probably local employment laws difficulties.



And for those who say that that wasn't him and that he was asked by the production to "turn it up", I can only ask "How stupid can you be?" You know you are going to be on TV nationwide and (if you are a decent person) know that that is wrong and the behaviour will create controversy (regardless of the employer's viewpoint). Anybody with some common sense would have expected to get fired after this...even if he was asked to do so. What in the world was he thinking? Hoping to get on the next "Big Brother" show?

Answer 3

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RE:

does anyone know if the idiot manager from the texas hooters "Jimbo" from undercover boss got fired?

Answer 4

I called today and found out first hand - JIMBO is still employed at the South Arlington location. I couldn't believe it. I was appalled and compelled to write an email to the Hooters PR department.







To: [e-mail]

Sent: Mon, February 15, 2010 12:16:35 PM

Subject: Undercover Boss





The first episode of Undercover Boss was amazing.



I was truly impressed with Larry O'Donnell from WM and how he took constructive action, immediate policy change/corrections, personally taking time to get to know people within his organization, and rewarding the dedication of several of employees.



The second episode with Coby Brooks, was a disgrace.



I have nothing against the restaurant, and in fact love the food; but after watching how JIMBO acted and was not terminated on the spot - what the HELL? His behavior was despicable! Everything from bulling, sexual harassment, arrogance, misappropriation of authority, and not to mention how he represented the Hooters organization. And this is what we saw on camera... I can only imagine what a nightmare he is off-camera.



I was curious and decided to call the South Arlington location ((817) 516-WING) and yes JIMBO was still employed as of 11:30am CST today.



The fact JIMBO wasn't terminated was truly counterproductive to the store, the customer, and to society. JIMBO is a perfect example of why many people view Hooter's with a negative connotation.



While it may be a franchise organization and Mr. Brooks has little control over the stores or store policies - why show America that Hooter's condones poor behavior like displayed?!?!



If this show was to promote and open the minds of America regarding Hooters; Mr. Brooks, you failed miserably!!

Answer 5

I'm with the "scripted" crowd on this one. If that was real footage, and he was the CEO, he would've fired his *** right off the bat. And there was one person below that noted that the CEO looked very uncomfortable talking to Jimbo. I caught that as well; probably because they both were in the script, and he had to search for words. The funny thing is that Jimbo didn't look at all surprised when he told him he was CEO, he was like "OK, i already knew that" LOL... And most of all, if there are cameras being filmed on you, why would you behave that way in front of a camera crew? if this was an undercover sting operation, then it would look more credible.

Answer 6

I don't know if he was fired or not, but the company's reaction to the incident was pathetic. All they did was ask him to make an apology. Seriously... that's it. To me, the lack of real consequences for that kind of behavior might as well be an endorsement. I said so much in an e-mail to Hooters attached below. Feel the same? Let Hooters know at [e-mail]



Dear Hooters,



I’m writing in regards to the episode of ‘Undercover Boss’ which aired on CBS on 2/14/2010. For a company that is dealing with a brand image problem, specifically with the treatment of women, I have to say this show did you no favors.



The show, both in its promotions and in the episode itself went to great lengths to show one of your managers, Jimbo, treating his female employees in ways that were shameful, belittling and disrespectful. And although your CEO appeared justifiably outraged over this conduct, the consequences Jimbo faced for his lewd and unprofessional behavior were laughable.



First off, during the show the Mr. Brooks called the franchise owner to report Jimbo and demand ‘immediate action.’ None was taken.



Next, during the conclusion of the episode, when Mr. Brooks revealed his true identity to Jimbo the encounter felt forced and scripted. Mr. Brooks did not appear outraged over the ‘inappropriate’ behavior any longer. In fact, he looked more uncomfortable then Jimbo. And as far as admonishing his employee for his completely unacceptable behavior… he asked for an apology. That’s it. Well, slap my wrist with a wet noodle.



Later the show did have a blurb saying he, “… changed his management style.” That could mean anything.



For all the lip service paid to “amazing hooters girls” and respect for women during the episode it just rings hollow and insincere. Because when one of your own managers treats women with disrespect and disdain what does the company do? Nothing. The lack of real consequences for those actions can just be taken as an unspoken endorsement of them.

Answer 7

I wrote Hooters & this is what I received back:



Hooters of America, Inc and our franchisee Texas Wings, Inc., appreciate your concerns about a manager's treatment of Hooters Girls in Texas during “Undercover Boss.” We agree with those concerns and agree that Coby Brooks, the President and CEO of Hooters of America, Inc. would have dealt with the manager immediately except the CBS contact requirements and the realities of "reality TV" did not allow for this result. The Company believes that you are entitled to know the following: 1. Hooters of America and Mr. Brooks were bound by a complex legal agreement with CBS not to disclose anything about the contents of the show, including the name of the owner of the restaurant; Texas Wings, Inc. Coming out of the Undercover role to discipline the manager in some way would have violated the CBS agreement. Now that the show has aired discussion is possible. 2. The manager in question resigned from his duties as an employee of Hooters and has left to pursue other options outside the Hooters system. 3. Texas Wings is the largest franchisee of Hooters of America and successfully operates 42 Hooters throughout Texas. Hooters of America is confident that the Texas stores are among the best managed and most successful in the Hooters system. Hooters has a longstanding and highly effective policy protecting employees from all harassment. Hooters of America and Texas Wings are confident the incident portrayed on Undercover Boss is in no way representative of conduct within the Hooters system, which employs over 25,000 people at 460 restaurants in 42 states and 27 countries. Sincerely, Daniela Hooters Hotline...We give a Hoot! P.S. Please retain your Thread ID in the message body. This will help us locate your information should you need us again.

Answer 8

According to the show, he is still employed there. While "unscripted" or "reality" shows often still have scripted or coached scenes and a lot of editing, the earlier answer claiming the CEO was joking around and asked the guy to it does not make any sense. I do not care how much money you have; if you are CEO of a company, you want it to have a good reputation. Why would the CEO encourage something that would make his company look so bad? If he fired him in the end, I might buy that it was a setup to show that the CEO will not tolerate any such behavior, but that was not the case.



On a side note, I would think that if I was someone who was not a jerk and who did not condone such behavior, I would not act it out in front of a camera, unless it was for a fictional piece. . .

Answer 9

I personally know Jimbo, we worked together at World Savings in 1996. We are still friends to this day. What you all saw was not Jimbo...! They told him after a week of filming that "They had nothing and asked him to spice it up" He did what they asked and now he's being punished. I was pregnant when I worked at World. Jimbo would always ask if I needed to get gas or stop for anything.

He'd follow me to the gas station and pump my gas for me. He'd always walk us girls to our car if we worked late. I went into labor when I was 5 months pregnant, I spent the last 4 months of my pregnancy in the hospital. All of my co-workers including Jimbo called me EVERYDAY to see how I was doing. You people don't know him and it's very sad you're bashing him based on a Reality Show. Hooters did this for ratings and attention. Find any Dallas World Savings/Wachovia employee and ask them about Jimbo. They'll tell you he was a prankster but a great guy and well liked and respected by his coworkers. Stop believing all the Media Hype people it was for ratings and attention for a company in trouble.

I just want to add that I also know Jimbo's wife and she's very pretty and very sweet so please don't bash people. He doesn't need to be a pig he has a lovely family. She nicknamed us his "Work Wives" as we were all fond of Jimbo. Why don't some of you go meet him for yourself. Hooters owes him and his family an apology.. He agreed to take one for the team to give them some drama as they asked him to. It's TV people !!

Answer 10

Put me in with the scripted group or else the Hooters restaurant chain is in deep trouble. First of all there was Hooters CEO Coby Brooks who, without his facial hair, had about as much charisma and command presence as Mortimer from the mail room. When Coby saw restaurant manager Jimbo use a humiliating "reindeer game" on his waitresses (probably as sexual compensation for batting 0 for 1,000 in the dating department) Coby looked like a child who wanted to run and tell daddy what he had just witnessed. Except of course he couldn't, as his father passed away in 2006 leaving him ironically in charge of the largest hot wings and T&A restaurant chain in all the land: think Barney Fife in charge of Central Command at Tampa's MacDill AFB.



More evidence of scripting; the female restaurant manager- and single parent- with the heart of gold. On TV this is prime time where the majority viewing demographic are women, important for advertisers hocking cosmetics and miracle weight loss. You don't want to anger women with a female restaurant manager resembling "Mommy Dearest."



Lastly there was the ex-military restaurant manager, a "steel-my-soldiers-heart" tough/softie type Iraq veteran who probably has a phenomenally loyal Hooters staff of waitresses and kitchen workers. Too bad a little of that couldn't rub off on CEO Coby Brooks.

Answer 11

I am blown away that Jimbo actually got to keep his job! As a female, I have never had an issue with Hooters restaurants, girls, or image.. Until, I watched Undercover Boss. By allowing a power tripping male shovenist to make the girls line up for a daily inspection, and shaming them in front of the entire staff for things like not wearing fingernail polish is (in my opinion) just deplorable. Not to mention his disgusting "reindeer games." If that is whats being shown on camera, I can't even imagine what "reindeer games" are going on behind the sceenes, and a "formal apology" to his employees is certainly not enough!! As long as Jimbo is empolyeed by Hooters, they have lost my patronage, and as I work in a very public industry, I will share my new found boycott with all of my clients and my community. If Hooters wants to show the girls are not just "hooters Girls" and they are real people, with lives and more than meets the eye.. The first way of showing this will be to shut down the management of Jimbo.



The woman who says she knows him personally... Are you his wife, or mom???

Answer 12

14 years is plenty of time for someone (Jimbo) to change. Real or fake he was an @ss and Hooters needs to either fire him or say it was staged. The girls should sue for sexual harassment and hostile work environment. No doubt they would win with it being on camera. If this is fake, it still makes Coby and Jimbo look like jack@sses.

Answer 13

My girlfriend called down there today and a guy named 'Joe' said that Jimbo still works there. Without question, Jimbo should have been fired. Any CEO for ANY company would have canned his *** the second that was done. (not pull him aside and 'have a little talk') Where is the leadership? Secondly, their 'solutions' to correcting his experience as an Undercover Boss, were worthless. Giving the one manager a vacation is great...but what about her talents as an effective Manager? Why not use her as a training ground or minimally get her direction on how future managers should be trained? While the two Hooters girls did experience some 'degrading women' feedback adding them as leads to the marketing department on future sell sheets and correspondence? Are you kidding? Because they heard some negative feedback? Seriously, the Waste Management team did a much better job of taking pros and cons and turning them into meaningful corrections and solutions for the future. IMHO

Answer 14

I know some girls at the West End locarion and it was not scripted...so I don't believe that at all...bottom line JimBo is a DumbBo. I heard that whatever was done or said during the filming couldn't lead to the termination of anyone so that is why DumbBo is probably still there.

Answer 15

I do not have the answer. I would not be surprised if lawyers (ambulance chasers) are looking at this. But in the end, there are all sorts of managers. They can be great to terrible (luckily most are at least good). But it is nice to have a show and companies willing to show the different styles of management and different aspects of the business that the public may not see. I do feel that possibly there will be stigma with that particular restaurant because of the way the manager acted.

Answer 16

eeharg1 has been very busy. I've seen this same response on several other blogs, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's blog. Could it be that Jimbo is doing some damage control?

Answer 17

I worked for Jim 10+ years ago.... He was a jackass then, but NOTHING like what I saw on tv last night. He's a pretty funny guy with a HUGE EGO.... I'm shocked that he didn't get fired, but with all the bad publicity, he probably will soon.

Answer 18

The CEO should have demonstrated how important the treatment of his employees is to him by firing "Jimbo" immediately. Instead he referred to the girls as "the brand" and was very weak in his handling of the situation.

Answer 19

Don't know him but watching the show right now, and NO ONE would be kept on if it was truly "reality" I don't care what legal ramifications there were. I have to agree with eeharg1 on this one.



I will say that most reality shows, I'll even say the majority of shows are scripted and this Jimbo situation seems likely one of the "scripted and edited to make you look bad cases."



One of the reasons I despise "reality" shows is because its IS NOT EVER "reality" because filming that would probably be boring. Understandably they need to have good material, but in this instance you can prety much tell the "story" writers for this show are actually screenwriters.

Answer 20

Coby Brooks

Answer 21

I don't know if he's still working or not, but he should have been fired. His behavior was nothing short of sexual harassment and it's against the law. How would you like to be his wife?!

Answer 22

He looked pretty bad on the show, but who knows what really happened w/ the production and whatnot. As far as inspections, a lot of restaurant managers have inspections to make sure front of the house people are looking sharp.

Answer 23

For sandwich-lovers, use spinach or swiss chard leaves instead of a wrap, skip the slice of cheese, and load through to the veggies.

Answer 24

No raw after four. Your body can’t digest fresh food after 4pm so consume fruit and salad earlier from the day and stick with cooked food in the evening.

Answer 25

Set your computer alarm to ring hourly—stand upwards for 1 to 5 minutes each time it goes off.

Answer 26

First of all, I know Jim personally. He’s an extremely nice guy. This whole epidsode was scripted and edited to make him the bad guy. The bean eating contest was at the request of the producers and the girls volunteered to get TV time. I am pretty certain that if this were a legitimate scene those girls would have filed suit and he would have been fired immediately. He and the CEO were joking around during the entire filming process. They had to redo several takes to get the best reaction. Not only is Jim still workin, he is one of the most respected managers in the corporation and his employees love him. Believe what you want but know that this was absolutely not reality. It’s really kind of sickening how the editing process works

Answer 27

Anybody for tennis? You’ll be reaching for the racket when we tell you a 60-minute game can burn around 420 calories.

Answer 28

Walk into a co-worker's desk to chat rather then instant messaging.

Answer 29

Schedule meetings to occur in far-off conference rooms.

Answer 30

Let's boycott Hooters until that loser is tossed.

Answer 31

Sip calorie-free mineral water, seltzer, or green tea together with your meal instead of soda, sweetened hot tea, or juice.

Answer 32

Obtain a plant for your office—watering it is going to make you more active.

Answer 33

Keep healthier dessert options on hand so you have something to savor during office birthdays and additional celebrations.

Answer 34

In breakfast, go ahead and consume orange juice. But throughout the rest of the day, focus on water instead of juice or soda

Answer 35

lower carb plus calorie counting is the way to go

Answer 36

three months minutes within the elliptical

Answer 37

I hear he still works there

Answer 38

You mean "Jim Bo-ner"