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Popular bartender let go from Chandler bar with no explanation

Posted at 10:26 PM, Nov 13, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-14 00:26:01-05

A Valley bar is under fire for what it did after it fired a former employee and it went viral. 

Brandon Casey owns the Woodshed bar in Tempe, and up until Saturday, he was bartending and helping to manage the Ostrich in Chandler.

The Ostrich is located in the basement of Crust Chandler near Arizona Avenue and Chandler Boulevard.  

Saturday night, Casey was let go without any explanation. 

"I'm an adult, I'm a big boy," Casey said. "I can deal with losing my job." 

But it wasn't getting fired that surprised him the most, it was the what his company did after.

His former employer decided to spill the news to the rest of the world on social media. 

"My mom saw it on Facebook before I even got off the phone with my wife," said Casey.

And Casey's mom wasn't the only one. Thanks to the power of Facebook, the post went viral.

Soon, friends and family were taking screen shots of the post and sending it to Casey. He was even getting responses from total strangers. 

"It's kind of like breaking up with a girlfriend. Either way, it sucks. Losing your job or breaking up with your girlfriend, but it's your choice on how you tell people. If anybody lost their job, they wouldn't expect someone else to tell everybody about it," said Casey.

ABC15 reached out to the bar's owner. We received the following statement:

"Brandon is certainly one of the most intelligent, knowledgeable, and skilled bartenders in the valley.  Over time, our respective visions for guest service, innovation and efficient operations progressed down separate paths. We sincerely wish Brandon great success in all of his future endeavors."

We also spoke with a Phoenix-based labor attorney, who told us the restaurant group did not break any laws by posting the news on Facebook.