One of Bermuda's newest restaurants has lost two of its Canadian management team to resignation and a third was fired, it has been revealed.

Shabnam Weber, Chit Chat Boulevard Cafe's former restaurant manager, handed in her resignation last week as did her husband Frank who was director of operations.

And operations manager Nicole Griffiths was fired the next day after being told that restaurant staff did not like her.

Mrs. Weber said the trio were head-hunted from the Canadian franchise Moven Pik and brought to the Island to set up a similar operation at the Queen Street site by owner Marico Thomas. Chit Chat opened on September 18.

The trio had worked at Moven Pik in Toronto for a combined total of 20 years, she continued.

Ms Griffiths had been operations manager in the Canadian chain for eight years while Mr. and Mrs. Weber had served six years apiece in the respective positions of director of operations and human resources manager.

When Mrs. Weber was asked if she suspected ulterior motives, she replied: "I don't trust anything at the moment. I truly wonder if we weren't just hired to bring the project here with the plan to get rid of us once it was established by provoking us to leave.

"There is no way he (Mr. Thomas) could have done it without us. He needed us to make it work. But not once did he thank us or give us any credit for putting the restaurant together.'' Now the trio are trying to get money back Mrs. Weber said were owed to them.

But they were being given the runaround by Mr. Thomas whom, she claimed, "is playing games because he knows we can't stay here and fight him''.

She said Mr. Thomas owed them for days in lieu and vacation pay as well as paying them up until they gave in their notice which she called "common business practice here and law everywhere else''.

She added that he said he was "looking into certain things''.

"But he knows we have to leave the Island next week so he's playing games.'' Mrs. Weber said she and her husband had different reasons for resigning.

She said the operation's two chefs -- who had also worked at Moven Pik -- were given a raise along with her by Mr. Thomas two months ago.

Six weeks later hers was revoked while the chefs kept theirs and she was told that the Bank of Butterfield -- which had financed the restaurant -- had not approved her raise.

"I found out by accident and was never approached or talked to about the matter. When I confronted Mr. Thomas with it he refused to meet with me for four days and then told me it was the bank's decision.'' Mrs. Weber said: "The final straw came when I discovered that staff in positions below mine were making more money than I was.'' Yet she was expected to deal with all the trials and tribulations of being a manager including working extra shifts when staff did not turn up or called in sick -- which frequently happened.

"This is no big deal when you are appreciated by your employer so you don't mind covering shifts but we were never appreciated.

"Then you see the cheques and find the employees are making more than you are.

Meanwhile her husband decided to hand his notice in upon being slammed by a series of accusations.

Mrs. Weber said when Frank and Ms Griffiths presented a business forecast for the restaurant to Mr. Thomas last year, "he did not want to believe the figures''.

"He did not want to show them to the bank and told Frank and Nicole to readjust them to make them acceptable.'' She said they did adjust the figures and they were submitted to the bank and approved.

But recently Mr. Thomas asked Mr. Weber why he was not meeting the figures which he had sent to the bank and demanded that he raise sales at the establishment by $20,000 a week.

"He then accused Frank of having no interest in the business.'' "But the business had enormous overheads before it started and we opened at the end of the season when other restaurants close yet these factors were never considered.'' Mrs. Weber said Mr. Thomas' father Fred had overspent on construction by approximately $300,000 and delayed work led to the restaurant opening four months later than planned.

"Instead of Mr. Thomas asking why sales were not made, he should have looked at the things leading up to the opening.'' The Webers made the decision to resign and gave five weeks notice but were told by Mr. Thomas to leave immediately.

The day after the Webers were told to leave, Mr. Thomas held a staff and management meeting but did not ask Ms Griffith -- who was on her day off -- to attend.

The next day he called her in for a meeting and told her that there was a personality conflict and the staff did not like her, said Ms Weber.

Mrs. Weber added that he told her "it was not going to work out'' and fired her.

Ms Griffiths had been on the payroll since last February, Mr. Weber since March and Mrs. Weber since April.

Mrs. Weber said she and her husband would be moving onto something else as they had made plans before resigning.

Meanwhile Mr. Thomas' mother and brother have begun working at the restaurant and Mrs. Weber said he was considering bringing in Four Star Pizza's operations manager Layla Lalani to run the business.

Mr. Thomas was hesitant to comment on Mrs. Weber's claims as he felt it would be "inappropriate''.

But he did say: "We've made quite an investment in the restaurant. It was our intention for all the staff to stay with us into the future and ensure our success.'' He added: "A lot of what has been said is unfair to them and unfair to the rest of the staff. There were other issues involved but I don't want to get involved in a mudslinging match with them.

"If Mrs. Weber has the unprofessionalism to try to resolve unresolved issues in public then that is an indication why she is no longer with us.''