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

[LeeCalif]

Chili's huh?!

And they haven't fired the manager and the rest of the cooks ?!

I'd call that unsatisfactory for our family's restaurant spending.

[karela]

We could take that route. Or we might consider giving Chili's a pat for doing something right. Generally speaking, rewarding people (or pets) for good behavior is a much more effective re-enforcement than punishing them for bad behavior. We objected. Chili's gave her her job back. Smart move now would be to at least lead them to think that that was a good business choice. You can bet they're reading this article and these comments.

[MsLiz]

Here is the original article, which should have been linked in this follow up:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebekah-spicuglia/chilis-fires-long-time-em_b_153114.html?page=4&show_comment_id=19071623#comment_19071623

I am tempted to go to Chili's, order a glass of ice water, leave a tip, then drop off copies of this article in various places in the restaurant.

[girlwild]

I used to work at a Fortune 500 company and one of the senior middle managers used to tell "size jokes" all the time. Most of us women were appalled and opposed to this happening, but the man's peers of women senior middle managers would laugh at the jokes. There wasn't much to be done.

BTW, most Human Resources departments exist to keep the corporations out of trouble, not as advocates for the employees. So if you think that Human Resources will be on your side, unless you've recorded the harassment, you are likely to not find any help there.

[newpotusplease]

that's right

HUMAN RESOURCES IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

I am not trying to be cynical, just telling it like it is for anyone operating under the delusion that HR is going to be their champion or righter of wrongs-- anyone in HR is only valuable to the organization if they are able to keep the troublemakers quiet and quashed.

[weatherwaxx]

The change of title says it all. It used to be "Personnel," -- ie, a department dealing with persons.

"Human Resources?" Sorry... in corporatespeak, a resource is something to be exploited for maximum profit, then replaced when it is exhausted. HR is about manipulating employees for corporate profit, period.

[1smartlady]

I totally agree that HR is there to protect the company, not to protect the employee. I know this firsthand and was totally surprised that it worked this way. I should have known better, but...

[ReasonablySpeaking]

I am sorry for what your sister had to endure, but am happy that justice is beginning to be shine its fickle light on her.

I lost almost everything, including my life, because of a similar but different situation. My EEOC complaint, which had enough merit to be almost immediately assigned an investigator, has been pending since mid-/late-summer. Almost everyone who participated in the disability discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, against me (county HR director, public library director, her second in command) has left the organization that once employed me for almost five years. Suspiciously terminated within days of returning from FMLA, my reputation maliciously ruined, it is no wonder I, almost a year later, remain unemployed.

Early on I had to make a financially necessitated choice my healthcare coverage and the services of an attorney, and I chose COBRA. Now I am a few hundred dollars away from being completely broke, my unemployment compensation including emergency extensions is nearly gone, and I am one (reluctant) relative away from sleeping in my car.

Your sister is lucky to have had your help and the public exposure/pressure you were able to facilitate. She is also blessed to be relatively young when this happened to her. Many of us who are a decade or two older than your sister fight and are defeated in anonymity, without ever having known vindication for and/or relief from the protracted poverty, mental distress, and emotional destruction suffered through no fault of our own.

[newpotusplease]

you didn't lose your life

you are still alive to write

I hope for good things for you for the New Year

Fight back

as Biden said- "Get Up"- in whatever way you can

stand up and fight-in whatever way you can
even sometimes if that means leaving the old life and building a new one
in whatever way you can

I hope for restoration of this country and for so many

you included

[NWMonkeyGirl]

I'm not surprised they backpedaled their position, and reinstated your sister. Your sister may have won this battle but the war is far from over.

Being ethical is doing the right thing when no one is watching. Not as shown by Brinker International's public statement, stating that her employment termination was an error and an over sight. We all know what happened here...and they are on damage control mode, nothing less.

I've witnessed and been a victim of sexual harassment many times during my years of employment. Employers looking 'the other way' is the norm not the exception.­..and that's goes for employees as well. I'm glad your sister has been reinstated, however, I hope she'll continue with her lawsuit. Unfortunately, the only way for some companies to hear you is to hit them where it hurts.

We all need to keep hitting, until they get the picture. It is not okay to witness this kind of behaviour and look the other way. Man, woman, employee, manager, whoever...­it doesn't matter.
You must report it or nothing will change.

Nothing about sexual harassment is gray, it is black and white. Nothing more, nothing less.

[MissKaren]

She wasn't sexually harrassed by a computer, f'heavens' sake.

[berherr]

Thank you and congratulations to Rebekah Spicuglia and especially to Rachel. Best wishes to Rachel as her case continues. I think it's awesome that she received such support when she needed it most. It's horrible that it took this much pressure for Chili's to do the right thing, but I hope that her case progresses quickly and I wish her every success. She deserves it. Merry Christmas, to Rachel, Rebekah and their families.

[MissDirection]

No offense, but the real story went untold. The fact is...many woman and men are harassed or discriminated against and nothing is ever done because they cannot afford an attorney and the news outlets refuse to cover the story. In your sister's case, she had you to turn to...someo­ne engaged in the media. And apparently, she could afford council. Your sister's case is exceptional and gives the impression that justice was served. Sure...it was...but it often isn't.

Here's a link to a case of discrimina­tion....pr­oven discrimination at that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhzaDvN1BN0&fmt=22

But other than this link, you won't hear a thing about this case in the news. Furthermore, there are no relatives of the victims who are placed within the media. Neither can the victims afford representation.

I'm happy for your sister. But this story glosses over the fact that the majority of Americans do not receive the justice they deserve because the American legal system caters primarily to the wealthy and well-connected.

[lungfish]

Yeay, I am glad it worked out for her though I am not impressed with the amount of pressure that it took to get them to do the right thing.....
I am glad and impressed that our commentary and support were so effective and that my own comments helped in some small way,
The rest of your article is spot on... you are a good writer and I appreciate your work.

[GRINBERG]

As we know, sexual harassment is unlawful under federal law per the 1964 Civil Rights Act and subsequent EEOC regulations and federal court rulings. When is the line crossed regarding sexual harassment? The line is crossed when an individual expresses that the other party's conduct is offensive and unwanted, or when the conduct is so egregious that it creates a sexually hostile workplace in the first instance. Consensual relationsh­ips/romanc­e at work are not unlawful in and of themselves.

Regarding the EEOC, the nation's chief civil rights law enforcement agency is drastically underfunded, understaffed, and in desperate need of revitalization. Sexual harassment charge filings brought to the EEOC by women AND men -- as well as all types of employment discrimination -- have sharply increased to historic levels after a steady period of decline. During the Bush Administration, while the agency's caseload has sharply increased, its staff has sharply decreased (by 20-25 percent). What does it say about our nation's commitment to workplace civil rights and job fairness when the cost of one B-2 bomber fighter jet is more than the entire annual budget of the EEOC???!!!

Hopefully, the incoming Obama Administration will quickly show its unequivocal commitment to the EEOC in word and deed. Otherwise, the old adage of "justice delayed is justice denied" will take on new meaning as the EEOC continues to wither on the vine -- along with tens of thousands of individuals whose federally protected employment rights may have been violated.

[sinope]

Wow, I hope she got you something good for Christmas, because you just saved her job

[janinei]

Nothing like a good law suit to ensure training about sexual harassment. I worked at a TGI Fridays, and a female server sued for sexual harassment. She got some bucks and the rest of the staff received bi-lingual lessons on sexual harassment. The downside was the manager sued for wrongful termination and won too. He claimed he did not understand what sexual harassment was and the company was responsible for his training..­. guess everyone learned that lesson!

[MissKaren]

There is nothing more powerful than bad press to make people backpedal and do what is right.

[cylindar]

I think you are both right. There is something to be said for each presentation and is valid. Not so easy to figure some things out but in some cases it is.

[Tenley]

I'm sure Sarah Palin felt justified and righteous too in using her power to try to resolve family matters, but that was considered scandalous. And any reporter in such a position as the author would be yanked off the story for obvious conflict of interest. But okay. This was a MORE justified and righteous situation and the person with the conflict of interest is a friend of the Huffington Post. So I guess there's nothing to do but join every last post here in a hearty BRAVO!

[Johnagain]

You're comparing apples to oranges here. I guess bringing in a defense of a corrupt, wingnut extremist like Sarah Palin into this unrelated issue is one of the directives assigned to the AM radio/FOX News/Rush Limbo crowd. Why not try using your efforts for good, instead of defending evil?

[Paulofer]

Bravo to The Huffington's Post Rebekah Spicuglia ! Bravo Rachel ! Merry Xmas to you both. Despite the happy end Chili's executives behavior was reprehensible. They allowed the situation going too far.