Chili's Reinstates Employee, Claims Error

We have won the battle! Chili's (aka Brinker International) has reinstated my sister, Rachel Spicuglia, as a full-time employee, with medical benefits and all, at the location of her choosing. After the Huffington Post piece about Rachel's case was posted at 12noon, Brinker International quickly backpedaled, commenting less than four hours later and contacting Rachel's attorney to state that the letter Rachel received was in error, and apologizing for the confusion and emphasizing how seriously the corporation takes sexual harassment:

Brinker does not condone sexual harassment or retaliation and has strict policies and procedures in place for dealing with such claims. We work to train all team members on this issue to create a greater understanding of its effect and consequences.

It's hard for me to imagine that Rachel's termination was some sort of computer error on the part of the benefit provider alone, especially considering that it coincided so perfectly with the end of Rachel's FMLA-protected leave of absence, and that Rachel's several calls to Chili's Human Resources went unreturned. And it seems clear to me that when it comes to Rachel, Brinker seems to be in reactive mode, acknowledging the error only after the Huffington Post piece was published (though they have not made any statement that admits any connection) and firing the employee who had repeatedly harassed Rachel only after she had secured an attorney.

But BRAVO to Brinker for doing the right thing yesterday and confirming her employment with them. It is a huge challenge for such a large company to police its many staff across the country and around the world, and they do have rigorous training which is supposed to enforce their strict company policies about sexual harassment. However, a company is only as strong as its weakest link, and the Kennesaw, GA store clearly did not maintain Brinker standards and should be held accountable.

This is a win for Rachel, but it is also a painful reminder of what women face every single day, and the vulnerability they face in hard economic times, when they are concerned about losing their jobs. The service industry is one of the fastest-growing segments of the American workforce, and the majority of women work in those professions. It is important to note that despite overwhelming show of support for Rachel's case after the article was published yesterday, there were also many sexist, cavalier, and otherwise disparaging comments and posts on other sites that attempted to place more blame at Rachel's feet, or dismiss the sexual harassment suit altogether. When EJ Graff highlighted Rachel's case on Slate's XX Factor, Susannah Breslin wrote a detailed response (based on a two-year stint she worked in restaurants), about the general dysfunction of restaurant work environments (drugs, sex, violence), commenting:

When it comes to sex -- or sexual harassment, for that matter -- the situations are often neither black nor white but decidedly gray. The idea that it's possible to eliminate or police human sexuality in any context is a fantasy.

Breslin of course feels more confident saying this by noting that she hails from Berkeley and understands the "feminist rhetoric, with academics in ivory towers who point down at the masses to declare what the populace should and should not do." She finished off with a recommendation that we all go read Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed, and apparently just get over it.

Well, I am a ten-year veteran of the restaurant industry, have read the book (fabulous, a must-read!), and can also confirm from my experience some of the dysfunction Breslin presents. However, I am appalled that she makes no distinction between consensual sex and sexual harassment, or states that servers flirting for tips is an example of how servers "sexually harass" men right back. I strongly believe - and have experienced - that a respectful environment is possible and should be more commonplace.

In fact, I have to note that of the more than ten restaurants I have worked in over the years (in CA and NY), of various sizes and management styles, the safest and most structured, respectful environments were in the corporate restaurants (one of which was owned by Brinker International - my experience with them was fine). The places I experienced the worst harassment and discrimination were in smaller restaurants (both fine dining and casual cafes), partly because they tended to reflect the styles of their sexist owners and managers, but also because smaller, younger restaurants often do not encourage staff to report harassment and rarely have severe policies and procedures in place for employees who violate the law. Breslin cites financial desperation for the reason servers leverage their sex appeal, without noting that often male servers are given preferential treatment, better shifts, better sections, and schmooze time with the boss.

Rachel's sexual harassment lawsuit will be moving forward, but she will not lose her job thankfully. Still, her case is not an isolated one, and not everyone has the resources to mount a mass protest like we were able to. There are too many people like Breslin who see sexual harassment as a general mass of "gray area" incidents. Regulating behavior in the workplace IS possible and happens every single day, as employers set a code of conduct for their employees to maintain. In addition, the impact of state legislation and regulation supporting Title VII cannot be underestimated, and Georgia residents would be better served by implementing their own laws, taking sexual harassment and employment law seriously.

Thanks to everyone for the overwhelming show of support for Rachel's case. In a mere 12 hours, over 200 emails were sent in protest to Brinker, posts on multiple websites and networks, and even a local email campaign started in Kennesaw, GA. Rachel is truly grateful for your efforts on her behalf, and we are touched by the many holiday blogposts celebrating the happy result (Linda Lowen's at About.com, Gloria Feldt's, and many more). This makes for a very happy holiday for our family!

Comments

[ElBombero]

I'm still disappointed, though not surprised, by the tendency for people to make excuses for bad (not to mention illegal) behavior.

As a human being...you have the RIGHT to work at your job without being molested or severely harrassed. It's that easy.

While cultural differences & certain employment environments can be blamed for SOME behaviors.....EVERYBODY...regardless of race, ethnicity and/or job history knows that you are not supposed to grab the breasts or buttocks of a co-worker. They may choose to do it anyway...but everyone, without fail, knows that it's not something that you are SUPPOSED to do.

Simple rule for guys to live by in the workplace...if you wouldn't want someone saying it or doing it to your wife/sister/mother...don't say it or do it to your female co-worker.

[wagadog]

This is a man bites dog story -- it's why it's in the press.

The more usual story is that the just-fired new mother is too economically and physically distressed to do ANYTHING about it, and the family is all like "oh why don't you just take some time off, dear, that was a lousy job anyway..." (i.e. she gets NO SUPPORT WHAT SO EVER FROM HER SO-CALLED "LOVING" FAMILY) and the only thing she can do about is something between sweet EFF-all and NOTHING.

If she litigates, she has to file within what 128 days, and can expect to see nothing but outgoings in expenses and stress for something like between 3 and 5 years. Good luck doing that without a job, in addition to raising your child, even if you CAN find someone to take it on contingency.

Which is why they continue to get away with pregnancy discrimination in 99% of the cases (they'd also violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, btw) and why they'll continue to get away with it, until some way is found to ENFORCE Title VII and the FMLA besides *expensive* and *time-consuming* litigation.

So stop telling us about how gun-shy Chili's was of a little press coverage (and when the family has an education and some capital), and start thinking about what happens (and has happened) TO THE REST OF US in the absence of effective civil rights law enforcement.

[DomainDiva]

I am reminded of the hooters waitress who could not seem to keep her chest out of my husbands face. That was 15 years ago. I have not been back to hooters since, nor have I purchased their products at Krogers.

Good for you for standing by your sister and making her plight public. I look forward to the day when bad behaviour is nether condoned (as in your sisters case) or 'directed' as it seemed to have been at hooters.

Of course we are talking about hooters, the company that thought it could build an airline business model with hooter girls and drunk college students.....

[speakyourmind]

It's Hooters. Looking at women with large racks is kind of the point of going there. Why you would decide to have drinks/dinner there is beyond me, if you're that insecure.

[ZimboChick]

true

[hortonhearsawho2]

I want my baby back ....ribs too.

[Eric8869]

Wait - she is reinstated but her lawsuit continues?

So an employer can fire the harasser, make sure the harassed is still employed with full benefits but the employee still is suing for more damages.

Did the company TRAIN this person to harass or reward the behavior? I don't get it.

I'm not doubting this person was harassed but this shouldn't be a windfall for them. The people who are responsible should be punished but the entire company?

I think this is what is wrong with Americans. They always want the big lawsuit payday. All it does is make Attorneys rich in the end and maybe this EMPLOYER might go out of business when we need jobs.

Am I missing something here?

[wdw505]

i agree with you...... wow........she does have some personal responsibility here too........the law suet should be over now

[DomainDiva]

She is entitled to be reimbursed for lost wages and benefits during the time she was not working, as well as attorneys fees accrued.

[JustAThought56]

You think she should just say "oh, thanks so much for finally treating me with fairness, as you should have from the start, after ignoring my attempts to resolve the matter without litigation through your human resources department."

"Although you either knew or should have known that your agent was causing me months of emotional pain and financial loss, and you did not take action until I got a lawyer and drew national attention to my plight, I am ever so grateful that you are finally acting as you should have. All is forgiven."

Please. Deliberately violating the law and then deciding to follow it only because you got caught in a big way does not make everything okay. Legal fees, "malicious harassment" and "deliberate infliction of emotional distress" are real.

It is NOT okay for a corporate entity to treat someone like crap, causing them all of this hell as long as they say they are sorry. Lawsuit are often the only reason that a business has to treat someone fairly.

The suit will likely end as most do, with mediation and a settlement. If the corporation is not happy with that, the solution is to make sure their HR department picks up the phone or answers the letter. Lawsuits are often the only legitimate tool your average employee has at their disposal to force the corporation to act as they should.

[wagadog]

"Am I missing something here?"

Yah. A brain.

[pkohan]

I sent a note to someone I met on Chili's marketing team telling her she needed to forward the original story to corporate HR ASAP. Glad to see similar efforts were undertaken and a satisfactory outcome was achieved.

[Kassandra]

Good for you and your sister! Sexual harassment as well as other illegal behavior like hate crimes have dropped off the radar in this lawless period we are living through.

[kelleyajones]

Bravo Rachel and Rebekah. Restaurant workers have needed some light to shine in this corner of their industry...forever. There is a pervasive sensibility in restaurants that the work is not a real job and so the workers employment rights are not to be taken seriously.

Sussanah Breslin is way off. Where does she get the idea that to "police human sexuality in any context is a fantasy". I think context is the key word and in the context of the workplace sexuality has no place. One of the basic criteria for sexual behavior as harassment is the way in which it is received; if the behavior is unwelcome to the recipient it is harassment. Context. A server flits their way to higher earnings. Context. 1) A good tip implies the servers sexual behavior was welcome and 2) If the servers flirtation is unwelcome the customer can withold a tip, complain, or exercise their consumer right to not return. Maybe not for Susannah, but a restaurant is a real workplace.

[HoraceOvidson]

Don't you hate it when those computers start harassing people. Hal lives!

[RobHughey]

Oh, I have to agree with you completely Ms. Spicuglia. I also have many years experience in the industry, and my best work-environments were in larger, corporate-owned restaurants. I didn't make as much money, but there was a more professional work environment. My worst experiences were with the privately owned restaurant I worked with. (shudders) Whoo... bad memories of a tough industry.

[weatherwaxx]

I think this country is a long way away from treating sexual harrassment realistically.

If you're too young to remember the Clarence Thomas hearings, go look it up. We've got a judge on the Supreme Court who was accused, quite credibly, of sexual harrassment. The GOP operative who ran the smear campaign to discredit Anita Hill came out, years later, and apologized, admitting she was telling the truth... but it was too late.

IMO, as long as Clarence Thomas is on the Supreme Court, there's a snowball's chance in hell of sexual harrassment being treated as a crime, even a misdemeanor. The men who do it see pestering women as one of the perks of power, and they cover for each other.

[Eric8869]

Clarence Thomas is a bitter, angry, pathetic man is many ways.

[DaCoach]

To win the war, battles like this must be fought and won. Props to everyone who was proactive in helping take a small step for woman but a giant step for mankind.

[karela]

Wow! Only 200 people took a minute to send an email and it resulted in justice for at least one woman. Now I call that a good use of my three minutes!!! Congratulations!

[ElBruce]

Question - how many sexual harrassment of Chili's/Brinkers DON'T have a sister who managed to get a high-hitcount post on Huffpo?

I'll go back to Chili's once all of them are taken care of.

Scratch that, I won't - they just rub brown sugar all over everything and call that "Cajun."

[Bitsko]

Great for your sister. Keep up the great work!