Sexual Harassment in the Service Industry

 

    It’s something we all overlook as servers.  Sexual harassment happens all the time in restaurants yet most of the time nothing is ever done about it.  People are afraid to “snitch” on their co-workers, they don’t want to go through the motions of participating in an investigation, or they don’t want to cause trouble.  Women are especially targeted in the industry, just like in any other workplace, just for being women.  It’s degrading, and it’s wrong, and people need to know how to handle it.

 

    Perhaps we should first define sexual harassment.   Miriam-Webster defines sexual harassment as:  “uninvited and unwelcome verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature especially by a person in authority toward a subordinate (as an employee or student)“.  This can mean many different things, including lewd sexual jokes and/or comments, unwelcome sexual advances, constant unwanted compliments, even as far as unwelcome touching.  As restaurant employees, these things have become more commonplace, and we tend to ignore the possible implications of our actions.

 

    Sexual harassment can be described as “anything said or done that has to do with sex that makes an individual feel uncomfortable or afraid.”  That’s the way it was explained to me when I was hired at my first serving job, yet even then, 10 years ago I saw it happen every hour of every day.  It would range from the simplest comments repeated every day, to the guys rubbing all over the women despite the fact that none of them enjoyed it.  I’ve heard guys make comments to ladies about “hooking up” with them in the bathrooms, taking them home and getting them drunk, taking them to the bar and getting them drunk to have their way with them.  The fact that most of us turn a blind eye to things like this is quite disturbing to say the least.

 

    Women get the brunt of sexual harassment, plain and simple.  They have to put up with “guy talk” everywhere in the building, especially in the kitchen.  Many cooks have a very lewd sense of humor, and often make crass remarks or jokes to women.  Most of it involves commenting on the size of their breasts or butts, or asking them about their skills in the bedroom.  Most of these women put up with it because they don’t want to cause a fuss, but they are almost always very offended by it.  Not only do they have to hear these profane remarks from the people they work with, they usually have to hear them every time they walk into the kitchen because cooks rarely just do their jobs without talking.  Anytime you walk into a restaurant kitchen that is staffed with primarily men, you’re going to hear talk about sex or sexual conquests.  It’s also quite normal to see a cook hitting on a woman, or touching himself while talking to a woman.  It’s unacceptable, and people need to stop turning a blind eye.

 

    Another thing that could be considered sexual harassment is just seeing things that could be sexual.  Something as innocent as a backrub to one person is something that can make another person feel uncomfortable, which is therefore sexual harassment.  Seeing someone hold hands with someone else, seeing a hug between two friends or two people who flirt, or even seeing a slap on someones butt, they can all offend someone who is sensitive, and they don’t belong in the workplace anyway.  The main thing to remember is this, if someone tells you they are offended, then stop doing whatever it was you were doing.  Sexual harassment is a very serious charge, and can be something that ruins careers.

 

    Here are some steps you can take if you witness harassment or are the subject of harassment.   First, inform the harasser(s) that they are offending you, and ask them to stop what they’re doing.  If that doesn’t work, inform them that what they’re doing is sexual harassment, and you’ll take it to a higher authority if need be.  Third, go to your management or district manager.  Doing that forces them to investigate your claim, whether they want to or not.  If that doesn’t work, go directly to your company’s human resources department providing you work in a corporate setting.  If you work for a privately owned business/restaurant, or none of the above steps have worked, you are well within your rights to make a complaint to the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).  This is a government agency, and on rare occasions will prosecute your case for you.  Otherwise, they can issue a document to you known as a “right to sue” letter which will allow you to take the case to court with your own lawyer.  No matter what steps are taken, you must make sure to document all instances of harassment.  If it’s something that goes on all the time, keep a journal, even if it’s in a cheap spiral notebook from the Dollar General.

 

    Everyone has rights.  Don’t let yours be violated just because you don’t want to stand out.  Fight those that are harassing you, make them into pariah’s, take your case to court and win if need be.  You deserve to be happy at your workplace, even if that means fighting for what you believe in.

 

Related Posts:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function related_posts() in /home/ribeye/ragingserver.com/wp-content/themes/raging_server_blog_official_theme/single.php on line 46