Sex misconduct common in hospitality jobs

Women who rely on tips often targeted by bosses, customers

CHICAGO — One woman recalls that a general manager at a Chicago-area restaurant where she worked told her that if security cameras recorded him reaching between her legs and grabbing her genitals he could simply “edit that out.”

In the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against several prominent men in entertainment, politics and journalism, accounts women share quietly play out in restaurants, bars and hotels across the country and rarely get the headlines. Court documents and interviews with the women and experts on the topic show hospitality industry workers are routinely subjected to sexual abuse and harassment from bosses, co-workers and customers that are largely unchecked. The nature of the work, which often has employees relying on tips, can make them especially vulnerable to abuse.

Joyce Smithey, an Annapolis, Md., attorney who has handled several sexual harassment lawsuits, said those accused of misconduct “have a great sense of who the victims are, who the women are who will put up with this, who need the job, are so scared they don’t fight back.”

Attorneys and advocates for workers say waitresses who speak out risk facing retaliation: Their shifts can be taken away or they might be scheduled for slower business times when there are fewer opportunities to receive tips.

Attorneys say the goal in these situations is to prompt the employee to quit and, if that doesn’t work, the worker is often made the target of an effort to discredit her character.

The woman who recounted the story about the restaurant general manager who suggested he would edit security camera footage of him inappropriately touching her, said she rebuffed the man’s advances. After that, Vger Williams said, a job opportunity she was promised at one of the restaurant chain’s other locations never developed and she was fired.

Workers who are sexually harassed by customers are often under pressure to remain quiet, too.

David Craver, president of the National Bartenders Association, said companies don’t want to lose business so “they roll out the red carpet to every customer.”

A lot of harassment occurs in situations in which the workers are underpaid. Managers often encourage waitresses to dress sexier to get more tips, which can lead to sexual misconduct. If the workers were paid more, they wouldn’t have to rely on tips and the misconduct would decrease, an activist said.

Improvements have shown up in other ways. In October, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance requiring hotels to develop anti-harassment policies and to provide panic buttons to workers by next summer if they work alone in guest rooms.

Also in October, celebrity chef John Besh stepped down from the company he founded after 25 women alleged that male supervisors at Besh’s New Orleans restaurants sexually harassed them. One woman says Besh pressured her into a sexual relationship, but Besh said he believes it was consensual.

While suing is one way victims of misconduct can fight back, most settlements contain nondisclosure clauses that prevent them from talking about what happened to them. So the incidents are not publicized.

“It fosters the problem we are seeing so much of (because) these serial harassers, bullies and predators aren’t talked about,” Boston employment attorney James Weliky said.