In a post-Harvey Weinstein world, there’s an awful anticipation surrounding which star’s worst-kept secret will be outed next. The outpouring of claims of sexual harassment and abuse against the film producer helped popularize a #MeToo social media campaign, encouraging women to share their stories of sexual harassment and spurring allegations against upwards of 60 high-profile men. In October, the movement’s momentum hit restaurants. Since, industry giants such as Mario Batali, John Besh and Todd English were forced to confront accusations of sexual harassment or misconduct at a time when the public is paying attention.
For many women, the scope of the industry’s sexual harassment problem is not awe-inspiring or any kind of shock. “To hear that [the allegations] were being taken seriously and that it was being reported in a major publication—that was exciting to me,” says Caroline Richter, bartender at New Orleans’ Turkey and The Wolf. In fact, restaurant employees and other service workers have filed more sexual harassment claims with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission than any other profession, according to a report from BuzzFeed News. Out of the 170,000 claims filed between 1995 and 2016, at least 10,057 were submitted by full-service restaurant workers.
With the industry tuning into women’s calls to address harassment and discrimination, the question is, “Now what?”
The answer to that question is somewhat elusive. When asked who restaurants can look to as a leader in stomping out workplace harassment, Amanda Cohen, chef-owner of New York City’s Dirt Candy said there’s not really any such person within the industry. Ruth Gresser, owner and chef of Pizzeria Paradiso and Veloce in Washington, D.C., echoed Cohen’s perplexity. “I’m not sure what’s going to help this situation,” Gresser says. “The problem is so systemic and so fundamental to the industry.”
Although restaurants have yet to devise a winning model to combat sexual harassment—even these outspoken female restaurateurs say they have standard policies on workplace sexual harassment—they are pointing to structural and cultural ways the foodservice industry can move forward.