Big Whiskey Franchise Commits Wrongful Termination

Big Whiskey Franchise Commits Wrongful Termination

A 22 Location Franchise of the Big Whiskey's American Restaurant & Bar has another potential lawsuit to worry about.

It is clear that Big Whiskeys has no problem denying people their rights. On October 14th 2025 Big Whiskeys terminated two employees for simply following the guidelines of their superiors. 

The two defendants have requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. 

One of the defendants is a 35 year old bartender and the other is a 19-year-old waitress. 

A gentleman at the bar simply insisted numerous times to buying drinks for the waitress. The waitress is 19 years old and cannot be served alcohol. The bartender relayed that information to the patron but the patron refused to take no for an answer. 

So the bartender sold the alcohol to the patron and went into the back room while still on camera pouring the drinks into a red solo cup instead of serving to the waitress who was also in the room. The 19 year old waitress was performing tasks unrelated to the alcohol in question. The Bartender then took the Red Solo cup and disposed of the liquid properly, not giving alcohol to the underage waitress. 

Big whiskey's corporate have reviewed the camera footage up to the point where the bartender went into the back room completely ignoring the camera footage of the disposal of the alcohol. Big whiskey's superiors refused to watch the camera footage past this point.. While the camera footage does show the bartender disposing of the alcohol properly with her superiors permission to do so. Corporate has terminated their jobs wrongfully.  

Wrongful termination is a prosecutable offense in the state of Missouri where the corporate office is located in nixa Missouri. 

According to mo.gov Section 320.339.  Wrongful termination, cause of action permitted. — An employee who is terminated in violation of sections 320.330 to 320.339 may bring a civil action against his or her employer who violated sections 320.330 to 320.339.  The employee may seek reinstatement to his or her former position, payment of back wages, reinstatement of fringe benefits, and, where seniority rights are granted, reinstatement of seniority rights.  If the employee prevails in such an action, the employee shall be entitled to an award of reasonable attorney's fees and the costs of the action.  The employee shall commence such an action within one year after the date of the employee's termination.

Terminating the job based on camera footage up to the event that they walked in the back room completely ignoring the camera footage of the bartender disposing of the alcohol properly. This is the termination reason. The Corporate office claims the bartender and underage waitress went into the back to drink the alcohol away from consumer view. Which the Bartender stated never happened. The Bartender states she never drank it and the underage waitress was never served illegally. The bartender claims that the camera in the back room proves this but the corporate office refuses to acknowledge this or even take the time to look. 

If the corporation had reviewed the footage of the bartender disposing of the alcohol properly then they would have had to admit that they made a mistake in terminating said employees wrongfully. The bartender was following disposal instructions from her superior, she was later terminated for following. 

Wrongful termination is indeed what has happened. It is our understanding here at News Span Media that both employees have filed for legal counsel regarding this particular wrongful termination. 

Big whiskey's has a long history of denying rights to employees, breaking the law and cutting corners in order to get where they want to be. 

This is not the first time that Big whiskey's has broken the law. 

This is one of many many examples that we have, after speaking to witnesses and former employees.

Back in 2017 

The Big Whiskey’s restaurant and bar in Little Rock and owner James Bryant have filed suit over the opening of a Big Whiskey’s in Bentonville.

In their breach of contract suit, Big Whiskey’s of Little Rock LLC and Bryant allege that they had the right of first refusal to open another Big Whiskey’s restaurant in Arkansas, a right they allege was denied them. The suit was filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

Big Whiskey’s of Little Rock and Bryant filed a similar suit in November 2016, but it was dismissed in March without prejudice, meaning they could sue again.

The most recent suit names Big Whiskey Franchising LLC, Big Whiskey’s LLC, Paul Sundy, Michael Heslin, Randy Gildehaus, Shane Wallace Miller and Whiskey Holdings LLC. SOURCE https://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/shots-taken-in-big-whiskeys-lawsuit/