Editor's Note:

The story Hard Rock workers to contest sackings appeared on October 11 in Metro Beijing. It detailed how more than 90 employees from Hard Rock Café (HRC) Beijing in Chaoyang district lost their jobs after financial documents were stolen by thugs during a brazen raid on the restaurant last month. The mob, consisting of about 50 people, stormed the two-story restaurant on September 25. They smashed locks off gates in the office area on the second floor and seized financial documents as well as computers that control the restaurant's surveillance equipment. Three days after the raid, several employees received an e-mail from HRC Singapore declaring the restaurant had closed permanently due to poor business and contracts for employees had been terminated.

The story:

Unable to acquire compensation from the restaurant's forced dissolution, employees went to the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau (HRSSB) in Chaoyang district last Wednesday seeking help to solve their industrial dispute.

Liu Xiaoqing, an employee from HRC Beijing, told Metro Beijing last Wednesday that it was the second major action they had taken since hiring a lawyer shortly after the financial documents were stolen.

She said the bureau acknowledged their grievance and invited them to visit a labor dispute arbitration committee in Chaoyang district on Thursday to reach a compromise.

Cui Hongwei, the lawyer representing the sacked employees, said there had been not any progress in the case yet because the lawyer HRC Singapore claimed was representing the global rock'n'roll themed restaurant's headquarters had not yet called.

The back story:

I was shocked upon reading on microblogging service Sina Weibo about events leading up to the forced closure of HRC Beijing because several of my friends had previously gushed about the iconic restaurant chain's upstanding reputation.

When I arrived at the restaurant at about 2 pm, several staff members, including the director of human resources, were already en route to the HRSSB in Chaoyang district.

The director, surnamed Zhang, told me he had no time to be interviewed in the restaurant because many employees were waiting for him at the HRSSB.

He suggested I interview him on the way and said I could talk to a witness of the raid at the bureau. After taking a brief glance inside the restaurant, I took him up on his offer and rode with him in the car.

Over two weeks had passed since the HRC Beijing break-in, but there was still evidence of the crime throughout the restaurant in the form of broken glass, strewn furniture and scattered documents.

There was also a banner draped over the venue's iconic stain glass window by employees reading: "Hard Rock Singapore repay."

Zhang sighed in the car, telling me that even if the restaurant was to be closed, HRC Singapore could still deal with the problem with employees amicably.

"I can't see any sincerity on their behalf," he said, alleging that management of HRC Singapore had masterminded the theft of the documents.

Zhang claimed that an e-mail from HRC Holdings, which he received on September 28, said that employees in Beijing would be compensated "according to Chinese law."

But to date, HRC Beijing hasn't received any further correspondence from Singapore.

"Hong Maokai (the Singaporean general manager of HRC Beijing also known as Jimmy Hoon) disappeared on the eve of the burglary. We had to sell leftover alcohol and souvenirs in the restaurant to raise money for a lawyer," Zhang said.

Zhang added that he hasn't ruled out embezzlement as the cause of the restaurant's bankruptcy due to business being reasonably better than widely claimed.

Many of the restaurant's food and beverage suppliers also suffered hefty economic losses due to the venue's inability to pay back credited orders, said a female employee in the car.

"The sum owed to these suppliers could be more than 1 million yuan ($159,200)," she said, adding that some suppliers have decided to pursue legal action to recover money owed.

We arrived at the bureau at about 2:40 pm. Aware I was a reporter, all the employees waiting in the yard of the bureau quickly encircled me to share their tales of woe.

They complained about the "simplistic, irresponsible" approach the Singaporean side had adopted in dealing with employees, some who have worked at the restaurant since its founding in 1994.

Ma said the break-in happened early in the morning before the restaurant had opened. Ma and a security guard were the only workers at the scene.

"The security guard suffered head and arm injuries when he tried to take back items seized by the mob," he said, adding that the guard only got back a suitcase of personal belongings of Duncan Finday Craig, vice president of HRC Singapore.

Ma said that Hong had sold a car owned by the restaurant and pocketed the cash before fleeing back to his native Singapore.

"Employees had no idea who to seek help from because Hong's cellphone was turned off and HRC Singapore did not send anybody here to help us," said Ma.

Due to deadline constraints, I was unable to sit in on sacked employees' mediation session at the bureau and instead returned to the Metro Beijing office to call HRC Singapore.

A female staff member who answered my call said she would pass on my message to HRC Singapore's media officer, who was not in the office. However, the media officer failed to return my call that day.

No response came until Friday morning when John Gogarty of Coyne Public Relations, which handles Hard Rock International's media enquires, sent me an e-mail.

He also denied claims the mob had forced their way into the restaurant, stating in the e-mail: "The franchisee lawfully secured key company documentation and, to ensure their personal safety, had private security [guards] in attendance. The only known violence during the closure was reportedly by the restaurants security staff, who attempted to stop the removal of company documentation."

Gogarty explained that the franchisee decided to close HRC Beijing because it failed to meet global standards Hard Rock International expects of its restaurants.

He added the franchisee has an attorney to work with the more than 90 sacked employees to ensure each is fairly compensated, although to date no worker from the restaurant has received compensation.