ARMIDAVIT of ginger h. dunn REGARDING THE APRIL 4, 2022 AFFIDAVIT OF DANIEL JOSHUA JONES Dunn v. Dunn 2021-DR-26-2429THE FAMILY COURT OF THE TATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA) COUNTY OF HORRY ) FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT Ginger H. Dunn ) DOCKET NO.: 2021-DR-26-2429 ) ) Plaintiff, OO ve ) ) AFFIDAVIT V. Keith Dunn ) Defendant.) ) 1, GINGER H. DUNN, HAVING BEEN DULY SWORN, depose and state as follows: + My name is Ginger Dunn. I am listed as the Plaintiff in this case. + Tam a resident of Loris, South Carolina, I have been an Horry County resident since T moved to Myrtle Beach at age seventeen (17) + [have lived in either Horry County or Franklin County, Columbus, Ohio for the past thirty- three (33) years. + Lam a mother of four. I have always worked in the Hospitality Industry. + Tam aware this document is being submitted to the South Carolina Family Court. + I write this affidavit based upon personal knowledge, and I am competent to testify about the matters set forth below. 1. After arriving fifteen minutes late for a thirty minute hearing in the case titled above, Regina Bechtler Ward, Esquire breezed past me where I stood in the wide, empty hallway of the Horry County Judicial Center's second floor. 2.Beyond the double doors, the courtroom was silent. As we took our seals at the wooden table, Ward offered Judge Cely-Anne Brigman an apology I believe even the most objective observer would deem lackluster. 3.As Judge Brigman began to speak, Regina Ward shuffled through the papers on the table, then handed a small stack back to paralegal Ashley Roberts. 4.Unbeknownst to me, Regina Ward had pulled the affidavit of Daniel Joshua Jones. (EXHIBIT A - AFFIDAVIT OF DANIEL JOSHUA JONES: "Secretly Not Submitted 2022.04.04") Dunn. Dunn AFFIDAVIT OF GINGER IL. DU: 2021-DR-26-2429 "Regarding the April 4h, 2022 Affidavit of Daniel Joshua Jones page | of 2FURTHER THE AFFIANT SAITH NOT. Z H. Dunn 2 1835 SARVIS DRIVE LORIS, $C 29569 (843) 446-5726 ghdeonsult@gmail.com SWORN and SUBSCRIBED before me this 12th day of December, 2022. Notary Public for the State of South Carolina My Commission Expires: _OS //"1/0S9— Dunn v. Dunn AFFIDAVIT OF GINGER H. DUNN page 2 of 2 2021-DR-26-2429 "Regarding the April 4th, 2022 Affidavit of Daniel Joshua Jones”STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA —_)_ IN THE FAMILY COURT OF THE COUNTY OF HORRY ) FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT Ginger H. Dunn i DOCKET NO.: 2021-DR-26-2429 a) Plaintift, 00 ) “ ) CERTIFICATE OF MAILING V. Keith Dunn } ) Defendant. The undersigned Plaintiff, Ginger H. Dunn (pro se), certifies the AFFIDAVIT OF GINGER H. DUNN: "Regarding the Affidavit of Daniel Joshua Jones: Secretly Not Submitted 2022.04.04" was hand delivered to the Horry County Courthouse and a copy was mailed via commercial mailing service to Defendant's counsel, Heather Marie Moore, Esq. at the address listed below (signature required): Axelrod & Associates Attn: Heather Mari 4701 Oleander Drive Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 Moore Ginger H. Dunn, Plaintiff (pro se) 1835 Sarvis Drive Loris, SC 29569 ghdconsult@gmail.com Loris, South Carolina (843) 446-5726 May 4, 2023 Dunn y. Dunn Plaintiffs Certificate of Mailing 2021-DR-26-2429EXHIBIT ASTATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE FAMILY COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY OF HORRY (GINGER H, DUNN, ) ) ) ) ) ) AFFIDAVIT OF DANIEL JOSHUA ) JONES: ) (Melting Por General Manager) y ) V. KEITH DUNN, ) Defendar ) FILE NO; 2021-DR-26-02429 PERSONALLY APPEARED before me, DANIEL JOSHUA JONES, who first being duly swom, deposes and states! ‘My name is Danicl Jones. I have spent the last eleven years working ot the Melting Pot jin Myrile Beach, South Carolina. In my time working at the business, | worked primarily for Mr. Sean Fredericks, who was part-owner, Mr. Dunn who always introduced himself as “majority owner,” and Mrs, Dunn who Mr. Dunn referred to as a majority owner as well. It was not my place to know or understand. the balance of ownership ai my level of service during the years I was there. Toward the end of 2020, Mr. Fredericks announced his resignation, which was to become effective January 1* 2021. The position of ‘General Manager was offered to me, and | accepted. I'spent the remainder of 2020 preparing for my new position. Since | had been functioning in the role of assistant manager or “manager” for several years, I had ss thorough working knowledge of day-to-day operations and experience with the software and hardware ‘of the building. Within the first month of my accepting this position, it became clear that Mr. Bunn held no responsibilities in the operation of the business. All taxes, bills, and payroll had been managed by Mr. Fredericks, In fact, aside ffom year-end taxes, all accounting was performed by Mr. Fredericks. All guest and staffing issues were handled by Mr. Fredeticks. and me. All repairs were the responsibility of Mr. Fredericks or me except in cases of jobs which required a professional and then it became mecessitty to gain approval from Mr. Duns, which had been nearly impossible to obtain One of the best examples of the difficulties in getting repairs of any kind completed was the “Beeer/Meat” walk-in cooler. As part-owner and Operating Partner of the business, Mr. Fredericks had some latitude in ordering small repairs, but the Walk-In was # large expense he could not make without Mr. Dunn's approval. This cooler had been periodically freezing up for many months. It had to be ‘monitored constantly due to sporadic failing. When it did fail, it became necessary to thaw the unit out by adjusting the thermostat and then reseiting it several hours Inter, These failures happened on 4 regular basisOn one occasion, we were forced to thfow out a great deal of expensive meat products duc to improper holding temperatures. Even after several recommendations from the refrigeration repair company to replace this unit due to its constant malfunctioning, Mr. Dunn refused to have the cooler fined citing the same excuse he'd given during the length of my employment, that the building lease was expiring, and the business would soon have to move or shut the doors. At that time Mr. Dunn cited this imminent closure date at around two years away, Since then, it has been revealed that Mr, Dunn misrepresented the terms of the lease and the business can possibly stay at its same focation ten more years, but prior to his leaving, this was the reasoning for performing no repairs or improvements to the facility or the equipment, including the failing cooler. During my transition in becoming the new GM, | took on many new duties, ineluding the responsibilities Mr. Fredericks had formerly held as an owner. Among these duties were paying all the bills, filing/paying: local and state taxes, and handling nearly every aspect of the accounting, 1 was also solely responsible for staffing including hiring, payroll, and compliance with the franchise. All guest related issues were my responsibility ax well, Mr. Dunn accepted none of Mr. Fredericks former responsibilities, Because Mr. Fredericks had held his position for so long, there was na established protocol for transitioning duties and no outline describing arcas of responsibility. I was essentially left to- ‘navigate on my own. Every aspect of operating this business was left to me. “At the time of this transition, we were still using an outdated version of QuickBooks on a single computer tower that was used remotely by every store in which the Dunn's held interest. We were stil hhand-writing all checks and paying bills through “paper” methods as Mr. Dunn had an open aversion to online payment methods. | was the sole person in charge of entering all QuickBooks information for the business. The only responsibility anyone cise held was to “reconcile the books” or check for errors, which | was told had been very minimal while | performed this duty. I was later informed that a Mrs. Chaposky had been doing all the accounting for Myrile Beach, which was not true in the slightest. During this transitional time of Mr, Fredericks’ leaving, Mr. Dunn hired Drew Basilicata as a “manager in training.” Mr. Dunn confided that there had been a separate business venture he had been in with Mr. Basilicato that had failed, so Mr. Dunn had hired Mr, Basilicato so he might repay the money he owed Mr, Dunn more quickly. This was to be temporary set-up, but Mr. Basilicato soon became a manager and sought for long-term employment, During Mr. Basilicato’s time as a manager, he performed his job poorly, und there were several instances of misconduct that were brought to the attention of Mr. Dunn. Mr. Dunn did nothing to remedy these ns and the poor conduct continucd. With all duc respect to my former emplayer, | bring attention to this to illusirate the poor judgement and handling of operations at the direction of Mr. Bunn.Ii was miy daily experience to come to work at 10:00am and find Mr. Dunn visibly intoxicated. In fact, Mr. Dunn would be intoxicated anytime he showed up when the business was open. In my cleven years of fulltime service, | only witnessed Mr, Dunn sober during operating hours @ small handful of times, During these times of sobriety, Mr, Duna had visibfe witherawal symptoms, and it appeared he ‘was only able to function for short periods of time. While I sympathized with Mr. Dunn's struggle with addiction, his behavior created a hostile and unwelcoming work environment which led to the termination f several employees at the demand of the intoxicated owner, Whenever Mr. Dunn was in the building, there were always extra challenges ie running the business Sometimes Mr. Dunn would show up to “work” « night shift and begin by walking in the door and criticizing the performance of management and staff. He would then proceed to consume alcohol behind the bar. His presence would cause unneeded stress for stafT and management, snd always ted to mismanagement of the reservation system. It caused awkward and off-putting interactions with guests, afer which the business would receive riegative reviews. Mr, Dunn would interfere with operations behind the bar as he would constanily he in the way pouring hintself more alcohol or standing mm the way ems far the restaurant. cof the bar entrance where we kept operating sys! For many years, every liquor invoice included expenses for alcohal consumed by Mr. Bunn, It ‘was not uncommon to see Mr, Dunn become drunk, and. then proceed to drive himself home only ta return Inter in the day to do so again, Over the years L watched Mr, Dunn quit drinking only to resume numerous times In the first part of 2021, Mrs. Duna began making more of an appearance. Eventually this led to Mr. Dunn going to a rehabilitation facility where he reportedly admitted he hud not heen operating, the business to the best of his ability and agreed with counselors who recommended he stay away from the open bar so he could foeus his efforts on recovery. During his time in rehab, Mrs. Dunn stepped in and immediately acknowledged the issues at hand, She began taking over the accounting side of the business and other matters in which, in my opinion, an owner should be responsible in overseeing. She immediately started having repairs done and hhad equipment installed for the betterment of the business. Mrs. Dunn listened to me on how the business had been run and did everything in her power to make the work environment better for all stafT members, myself'included, When Mrs. Dunn arrived, we were going through a staffing and management shortage all while 1 had been inundated with the tasks of keeping the bu: es operating, There was an instance of expired permits and the liquor license that needed to be renewed that Mr. Dunn had not been able to complete. | had watched these rapidly approaching expiration dates with high anxiety, amticipating fines, loss ofpermits, and possible closure of the business. To my relief, Mrs. Dunn acted swillly and was able to resalve the issues within the two-week deadlines, ‘Mrs, Dunn participated in meetings management as well as staff. She participated in ‘webinars and meetings from the franchise and invested her time into leaming how to better operate the gs Mr. Dunn had not done, | witnessed Mrs. Dunn implement software for business, all of which were tl the beiterment of the company which gave us insight into how to boost sales. These new systems also gave us important information regarding which areas we most needed to improve. When Mrs. Dunn saw the benefits of the platform known as OpenTable (the online reservation system that will soon be required for every Melting Pot franchise location), she moved our timeline to transition forward so the business could start collecting this important data immediately. She soon began making improvements on the problem areas of the building including a tall fountain in the lobby for which I had been responsible for cleaning. Many times, | had attempted to bring the fountain to the attention of Mr. Dunn as a waste of time and resourves, but it was a problem he refused to acknowledge or remedy. ‘After working in our dish room. Ms. Dunn helped remodel the area to provide a better flow to ‘operations. She had the refrigeration company replace the cooler mechanism that had been failing and had a new ice machine installed after she witnessed me performing almost daily maintenance on the failing unit due to ils old age and poor function, Mrs. Dunn had taken steps w add water filtration to our building. She fixed the constantly clogging and overflowing toilets, replaced the main prep table with one that did not sway on unsteady legs under the motion of anyone cutting bread or chopping vegetables. She cleaned out dry storage and replaced the hot water heater connected to the employee hand sink which ‘ally brought ws up to code. The reason I bring this to your attention is because it has been framed that I ‘was “bought off” by Mrs, Dunn, and that is simply not the ¢ase, I got to witness what an owner could do if they invested their time and energy into making the business | had worked in for cleven years better than it had ever been before, It has also been framed that Mrs. Bunn wasted money on unimportant things. Anyone who says this has never worked with Mrs. Dunn, Mrs. Dunn talked through business ‘expenditures with me before making decisions. Mrs. Dunn told me she was sorry I'd had to take on so much responsibility, but that she was grateful for my insight into which items the business needed and ‘what areas needed attention the most. She explained that every expense should be an investment that helped the business succeed. We talked about tangible and intangible returns on investments. In the le discussion of numbers, other than that they had been too high. T enjoyed learning this aspect of the business and appreciated being included in the conversation, Another previous eleven years, there had been thing Mrs. Dunn invested her time in was people. Mrs. Dunn took time to get to know each and every staff’ member, not just their names, but their lives. This was the type of ownership I desired to work for. 4Im the months that followed, Mrs, Dunn continued to provide this type of support which was 2 much-needed relicf as { had been working 7 days a week since December 2020, Though the business hud been closed on Mondays at the end of COVID, I had not been able to spend that time with my family due to the overwhelming number of invoices, bills, and other tasks for which I"d had no- help, ‘After Mr, Dunn left rehabilitation, | was informed he wanted to focus on his recovery and would not be returning to the business, 1 remember telling Mrs. Dunn | believed Mr. Dunn going to rehab had ‘been the best thing for him, because I'd felt it was only a matter of time before he seriously harmed ‘himself or someone else. After watching Mr, Dunn struggle for so many years, 1 was happy he was getting the help he needed, Admittedly though, 1 had been relieved. Me. Dunn had always been so to the building and undo all the positive resistant to change, 1 was concemed he would come bact things we had accomplished over the past months. Though we continued to struggle with staffing, so did the rest of Myrtle Beach. I had spoken to many business owners within the franchise and out, who were all dealing with a seemingly endless shortage of employees. In September, | aitended a conference for the franchise where many of the owners mentioned staffing issues which had led fo closures on certain days of the week or for weeks at a time. Though it required more time and work from me and my managers, it was gratifying when we were able to reopen the business seven days a week as it had been prior to COVID, For the remainder of 2021, 1 continued my efforts to grow the business, hire staff, and inerease sales, When I'd frst stepped into my role as GM, 'd set a lofly annual sales goal that represented more than a 20% increase over 2019, In 2021, though we were closed on Mondays the first 9 months of the ‘year due to COVID, though we experienced the worst Labor shortage in the history or our industry, though We Were operating in a failing facility with failing equipment nearly the entire first half of the year, though the departure of Mr. Fredericks, who had been the operating partner of the business for more than 2 decades had left a large Void, though sssistant manager Drew Basilicato took both the kitchen manager and the newly hired front-of-the-house manager with him at his own exit, though I struggled to recruit managers to replace them because Mr. Dunn would not approve pay increases to affer competitive salaries, though both the new assistants hired were first time managers—despite all these challenges, our store posted a 20.35% increase over 2019 and. surpassed the highest annual sales in its 25 year history by’ 12.87%, While I'm proud ofthe Tearn’s accomplishment, | mention this now to bring attention to the fuet that Mrs. Dunn was in change of operations for § of the 12 months that this happened.In Inte 2021, all progress ended when Mr, Dunn returned to the store. Mr. Dunn showed up; and without conversation or discussion, proceeded to ask for my credentials to websites and accounting software (to which I knew he had his owa). As Mr. Dunn continued to question me, I learned it was as | had suspected: Mr, Dunn did nat know how to utilize any of the websites used for accounting, marketing, inventory, ordering, payroll, printing menus, paying bills, or staffing. It seemed! he expected me to stop running the business to show him how to perform basic program functions as he had no prior experience with the day-to-day operations of the stare. | mention this not as a failing of Mr, Dunn's, | respect anyone ‘who wants ta learn, but I was aware Mr. Dunn was in this position because he had claimed in a courtroom to have been the operating owner for 20 years. Mr. Dunn had not. That had been Mr. Fredericks, and now Mr. Dunn had gotten rid of the operating owner I had worked with closely for the previous eight months, an operator who did not need to be trained. ‘Mr, Dunn never attempled to have @ conversation with me about his past behavior. He did not acknowledge the strain it had caused me and my family. He never apologized. Mr. Dunn had re-entered the business without acknowledging Mrs. Dunn's role in the success of the business. He had not acknowledged the business's success, After banning the owner from the building who had helped the business and every employee since spring, it seemed Mr, Dunn expected everyone to pretend as if he'd never left, and that Mrs, Dunn did not & When Mr. Dunn and 1 sat down for a meeting in carly December, he once again did not acknowledge any of his past behavior. He offered me more money to “train” him and seemed surprised ‘when I told him my employment was not all about money. Mr. Dunn pressed the isswe, but I informed him T did not desire to work side-by-side with him and did not desire s partnership. The reason I said this did not desire to go back to day-to-day life with him wats due to his style of ownership oF lack thereof. involved. ‘At that point, I knew iff Mr. Dunn continued to be a presence, I was either going to have to resign, or he would end up letting me go as I was unable to hicde my feelings, ‘The next weekend, he came into the business for a few hours on two consecutive nights, but after a conversation with one of my managers, he ddid not make another appearance while the business was open. In the weeks that followed, he would come in on random mornings before anyone arrived. | knew the days he had been there because he used my credentials to disarm the alarm system (though he hed his own passcode) and would always leave the alarm disarmed after exiting. On a few occasions, he came in when one of my managers was on duty alone. She reported hat Mr. Dunn would ask her questions regarding her intentions und her loyalties.In early January 2022, Mr. Dunn sent Mr. George Chaposky into the store to speak to: me during my shift. In May 2021, I had been surprised to learn Mr. Chaposky, who | believe ig a co-owner in the Ohio store, was riot an owner of the business in Myrile Beach as that was the way he had presented himself to everyone. From Mr. Chaposky's presence and his conversation, it seemed Mr. Chaposky intended to present himself this way once again. Since we had not gotten busy with reservations yet, I sat with Mr, Chaposky outside in front of the store next door to talk. Mr. Chaposky feigned care, stating he was “genuinely concemed about my abandonment.” When he mentioned his termination the previous September, he said Mrs. Dunn had forged Mr. Dunn’s name and that he had not actually been fired. He said he and Mr, Dunn were “taking back their businesses” and that this was happening “right now.” The opie of this forgery had come up in the same court date that had resulted in the decision that allowed Mr. ‘Dunn to re-enter the business and ban Mrs. Dunn who had been extremely upset by this accusation. Even if Thad not been aware of the 1P addresses proving Mr. and Mrs. Dunn were in different states when they clectronically signed this document, I would have known with certainty there was one party of the three involved that was incapable of an act of deception and that was Mrs. Dunn. At that point in January, Mrs. Dunn had been spending more time working in Ohio as she had been banned from our store for over a month by Mr. Bunn due to a court order that was being misinterpreted. This had once again left me to run the store without an owner present. Mr. Dunn had not ‘come in to work for six weeks and had assumed none of the responsibilities or tasks he was preventing Mrs. Dunn fram completing. Mail began to pile up untouched for days and weeks. Any time 1 wanted to discuss something with Mrs. Dunn, I was forced to weigh the necessity of the question versus whetlter answering might cause problems for her later duc to “interfering.” Mrs, Dunn paid our bills and had set up our systems, Mr. Dunn did not know how to use the programs he needed to access to make informed decisions. Mr. Dunn could not have answered even if he had been open to my questions. I was considering this quandary when Mr. Chaposky stated he wanted me to continue to nim the Myrile Beach Store and wanted me 1 use him as my “go-to” in lieu of Mr. Dunn. Not knowing an appropriate response to this, I told Mr. Chaposky Thad no idea what my future held ‘This lack of ownership persisted until February |*. After taking note of Mr. Dunn's ear parked in the lot, | entered the building as I had many times before. As I crossed the lobby toward the Back office, I was met in the dining room by Mr. Dunn and immediately told ta hand over my keys to the building. Mr. Dunn said he had only continued letting the building operate this way until things became untenable, and now things had reached that stage. | was confused by this but handed him my keysMr. Dunn then informed me I should gather my belongings before leaving, He followed me to the office where I found a person I had never met sitting at my desk talking on speakerphone to Mr, Chaposky. Once this unidentified person finally left, | began to gather my things. With Mr. Dunn standing behind me, | found a cardboard box and put my small memorabilia inside. When 1 asked, “What am [ being fired for?” Mr, Dunn's response was, “I know you have been in communication with Ginger.” | just let out a small chuckle as a tear filled my eve knowing | was being terminated afier eleven years of dedicated service for communicating with the person that still managed the finances for the store, the ‘person it was necessary for me to maintain contact with to perform my job. | continued gathering the last ‘of my small things in silence. As I left the office, Mr. Dunn said he would be in touch, # exited the building and the business where I had worked so hard for more than a decade. FURTHER THE AFFIANT SAITH NOT. yas flee DANIEL JOSHUA JONES SWORN TO and SUBSCRIBED before me This the_@nEl day of Apes | __. 2022. Chua 1. drotivt Notary Public for the State of Ofte My Commission Expires; O.&