Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 7:52PMWorkplace Bullying Has No Place in Restaurants
Do You Tolerate Bullying Bosses in Your Restaurant?
I just read Ron Lieber's post in the New York Times about getting kicked out of Marc Forgione's restaurant last week for standing up for the staff he was yelling at in full view and earshot of the guests. Ron says he went to the kitchen and told Chef Marc that he was disturbing the guests, was mean, and to stop the workplace bullying. The chef then came to the table, had words with Ron, a guest, and asked him to leave.
While chefs loudly dressing down their staff is nothing new, particularly Gordon Ramsay wanna-be's, I don't believe tradition makes the behavior anymore acceptable. What was particularly interesting were some of the cowardly comments made to Mr. Lieber's post.
There were some who commented that he should have kept to himself in a situation that overtly warranted a level of intervention, both for the sake of the person being verbally attacked and for the sake of the dining experience. It amazes me that, when presented with a situation where they only have to imagine the right thing to do, people can be so cowardly that they can only imagine "looking the other way".
Bullying has no place in a restaurant setting or any other place. I pray that I'm "professional" enough to come to the aid of someone being abused, attacked or otherwise mistreated.
Reader Comments (3)
When I worked in the dining room, we had several staff memeber that did not always get along. Never were you permitted by myself or the owner to carry on in front of the guest. I commend Ron for standing up to the Chef. No staff should be submitted to such treatment. It is morally wrong. In this day and age none should have to submit to bullying. Certainly not by your boss.
Thanks for your input, Darlene. I agree. I was once "dressed down" in the dining room by the owner of the brand I worked for. To this day, I respect him less because of that incident.
The "Celebrity Chef" mentality in North America is quite egotistic and shows that many chefs don't get that the main reason for their existence is to create a wonderful dining experience for their patrons who are paying with their wallets. That includes not having the dining experience degraded by having listen to abusive behavior. It's not about "them", its about their "patrons".