Whole Foods employee's scathing resignation letter goes viral

A scathing, 2,000-word resignation letter penned by a cantankerous Whole Foods employee is making the rounds internationally after it was posted to Gawker.

The former staffer, who worked at Toronto's ritzy Yorkville location for about six years, describes Whole Foods as a "faux hippy Wal-Mart" and calls the American chain out on its granola-munching "core values." (A sample: "Caring about our communities and environment.")

The staffer, reportedly a store buyer who had access to a mass e-mail account when he fired off his bombshell to everyone in the company Friday night, accuses the chain of throwing out mountains of food and failing to recycle properly, among other enviro offences.

And then there are Whole Foods' gastro crimes: "The sandwiches are the stuff of nightmares," he writes.

As for employee relations, the man claims store managers sanctioned and even rewarded well-heeled customers who abused staffers. He complained that the company avoided doling out raises just as managers piled on responsibilities, all while cost of living shot through the roof in the city.

This, of course, is the bane of working retail in any urban setting, and the staffer loses more credibility with this bratty line: "Oh, you actually think being 20 minutes late matters? You know Whole Foods Market is just a grocery store, right?"

And then it gets really ugly: The staffer eviscerates his colleagues by name (Gawker redacted these), calling one a "cowardly weiner," another a "sociopath," and yet another "a chauvinist" who is "Best at ruining the entire meat department vicinity by blasting terrible music." (Granted, it was Nickelback.)

His bottom line to staffers still in the trenches: "You work at a grocery store. Go ahead and relax."

The explosive e-mail is being likened to Steven Slater's spectacular exit down the slide, beers in hand, off a JetBlue plane.

Responding to the e-mail's claims, Whole Foods public relations manager Kate Klotz told the Toronto Star: "We disagree with this former Team Member's statements, and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors."

Still, plenty of folks are rallying around the missive to hate on Whole Foods and its adherents; one Gawker commenter calls the chain "a sanctimonious douche magnet," adding, "Watch out for those Priuses."

Does the letter deter you as a shopper, or is that salad bar simply too addictive?