This is the world of liberals. No morals. No religion. No standards. Everything conservatives strive not to be. But when any conservative falls from grace they are hypocrites because of their standards. Liberals have no standards. Never vote for a Democrat. NEVA!!!
6
Do you mean Restauranteur as in someone who operates a restaurant? or someone that restores furniture?
sicko he be
Yeah, New Yorkers are just so hip and cool and progressive.
I don't understand libs complaining about the world they've created.
6
So, what's next for our suddenly illuminated first world population? (Are there signs of a tipping point for behavior that predates recorded history?)
10
Yes, it's getting so cave men just don't feel at home anymore. And so suddenly, too, after mere centuries, give or take.
4
Once again, women turn to the female in power, only to be told to deal with it. After being sexually harassed at the office through my 20s and 30s, and having women in HR defend the men, in letters which I saved, I decided to stay home and start my own business. I truly believe men do not want women in the workforce and use sexual harassment as a way to continually humiliate them or force them out, unless they are complicit.
382
I'm a woman who has had to deal with sexual harassment but 98% of the men I have worked with are good men who treated everyone equally and who were a pleasure to work with.
24
Yup. It's not about sex, it's about sexism.
20
Please reconsider. I'm a man who has worked with some truly gifted women. The workplace would have been seriously diminished without them.
6
Friedman just needs to say that all the women are lying and that this article and reporting are fake news. If he’s really adept, he could say that he’s never met any of the women and that he doesn’t even know who they are. Problem solved.
34
Not sure if this is sarcasm, but he definitely can't say that he never met these women because there are tons of pictures of him with them from holiday parties etc. So…
Sigh, another tiny little man in power. Let's put all of these offenders on a boat in the middle of the ocean and let's see who comes out alive. I worked in the restaurant field and most chefs are pigs. I bet Friedman has tiny little hands too among other appendages. I guess that's how they make up for their shortcomings. Pity them.
36
This is not fair. Friedman looks quite tall, based on the photos. My sense is that tall men are accustomed to getting what they want and don't know how to take "no" for an answer. I am short (5' 7") and am one of the most polite people you'll ever meet. O'Reilly, Rose, Friedman. All these guys are tall. My belief is that very few harassers are under 5' 10", because short men tend to feel much less entitled to women than tall men do. I don't think harassment comes from desperation as often as it comes from a feeling of ownership over women, and very few men around 5' 8" feel any ownership over women. Men who are 6' 3" might feel some. Go back and look at the heights of the male harassers. I bet most are average height to tall.
31
Trump is tall. I've stood next to him.
I would disagree with your comment from personal experience.
1
And the folks in NYC bad mouth Moore - come on, this pride of NYC is worse than Moore or Trump could ever be.
18
J Holladay - You do understand there is a difference in expectations and responsibilities between someone running for elective office and calling himself a Christian and a guy who owns a business, yes?
64
You seem to be the only one comparing Trump and Moore to Mr. Friedman, whom by the way is not an elected official. People will boycott this restaurant, especially women. If enough business is lost, it will close. Unfortunately Trump and Moore will still be with us. It's interesting that the accusers of Moore and Trump are accused of lying, receiving payments from Democrats, and overall faking their claims. I wonder why no one seems to disbelieve others?
1
Seriously? You're comparing the leader of the free world to someone who owns a few restaurants?
3
"When he wasn’t coming on to us, he was screaming at us."
There it is. Not only a sexual impulsive depredation but the same fascist dominance that is the DNA of the slaver mentality. At one point, these types (men and women) need to look at themselves in the mirror and get horrified by the toxic brew of human nature that courses in their veins. And then, they need to bleed themselves dry and reboot with a fresh, unpolluted blood of humility, compassion, empathy, tolerance, and charity.
101
Why not just bleed them out and call it a day.
NYC must be so proud.
When will you lemmings wake up? You city is full of real life slugs - you even sent one to DC for the rest of us.
This restaurant should be avoided to the point of closing.
Yea, I know the elite will continue to go and support it and be seen. No shame in anyone that walks in the door of this pigs stall.
25
I somehow don't think any city has a monopoly in misogyny.
2
With all due respect, NYC did not send the guy in the WH to DC. His votes came mainly from flyover territory.
2
J Holladay
Thank you J, yes we are very proud of our city,
kind of you to point it out.
What’s wrong with you USA?
2
First Politicians, then CEO's, then Movie Moguls, then Media Magnets, then Symphony Directors, now Top Chefs... ??? Good Gracious who's next? I hope it's Dentists! I've never liked them anyway- years of telling me I don't floss enough when I know darn well I have.. OK #MeTOO .. Get em!
55
There are already many more professions where this behaviour has come out, including vast swathes of academia, the medical profession, the legal profession, sports, and so on.
4
These women didn't come forward because they feared losing their jobs. Let's face it basically men in power are pigs plain and simple. Worse than children and far worse than dogs. At least you can train a dog NOT to do something.
2
Re: the resteranteurs' responses. Wow. Talk about a string of non-apologies. "We're sorry, but not really"
1
And Anthony Bourdain, another kitchen bad boy who by his own admission participated in sustaining this brutal and misogynistic culture, is eagerly distancing himself from Friedman and Batali and claiming he never 'knew.' https://medium.com/@Bourdain/on-reacting-to-bad-news-28bc2c4b9adc
What utter bumpf.
Wonder if his business partnership with them is still going ahead: https://firstwefeast.com/eat/2015/09/bourdain-confirms-more-details-abou...
People, vote with your feet. Walk on by any restaurant owned / operated or frequented by any of these 'celebrities'.
7
Any woman who's worked in the food industry knows the men are generally letchy and drunk. "Grab-ass, superfun" is an oxymoron, and the woman who tried to qualify those men who were paying her all that dough should be ashamed.
11
"Neither did Trish Nelson, a longtime server who said he grabbed her head and pulled it toward his crotch in front of Amy Poehler in 2007 as Ms. Nelson knelt to collect glasses from a low shelf . . . Many others also said that working for him required tolerating daily kisses and touches, pulling all-night shifts at private parties that included public sex and nudity, and enduring catcalls and gropes from guests who are Mr. Friedman’s friends."
Liberal hedonism coming home to roost. Simple as that. And of course no one really cares. Amy Poehler will pretend to care now, but of course she really doesn't. She is no doubt vocal about the causes she actually cares about. Pathetic.
"Even by the loose standards of the hospitality business, where rowdy drinking sessions after shifts and playful sexual banter are part of the culture, employees described Mr. Friedman’s restaurants as unusually sexualized and coercive . . . “We are not people who can live in cubicles,” said Carla Rza Betts, 39, who was wine director at the Spotted Pig, the Breslin and the John Dory from 2009 until 2013, when she left the company after experiencing what she said were multiple incidents of sexual harassment by Mr. Friedman. 'There is a grab-ass, superfun late-night culture — I love that part of the industry."
Covering for a favored industry, NYT? Why isn't Betts being raked over the
coals for justifying culture of sexual abuse? You wouldn't write that if it happened on Wall Street.
8
I wouldn't assign too much sincerity or veracity to April's claim she only knew of two cases. How can you possibly be such close business partners and be completely oblivious to the other's predatory behavior? From personal experience, I suspect she tolerated it in order to keep her operation going, regardless of the toll it took. The last time I ate at the Spotted Pig and broke three teeth on a stone I found in my food, she claimed I planted it there. This late reckoning strikes me as karmic retribution.
13
how come there are not more women restaurant owners?
9
Is anyone surprised? Today's culture after 5 decades of the sexual revolution now leaves us with no morals. For many people, what happenws at this restaurant or entertainment, sports, academia, media and government world is perfectly fine. This is what they hoped for now that there is no morals. But not everyone accepts this behavior. It is well past the time that we put morals back in our culture. Let's hope this is the beginning of that effort.
6
I am appalled at these stories of awful men that seem to pop out of the woodwork like so many grotesque worms. Who are these men who believe this behavior is ok? Why is this behavior so pervasive in our society? What can be done to protect the rights - and dignity - of women in workplace who are abused?
12
Bill Buford published his memoir Heat about 15 years ago, with Mario Batali as a central character. Wonder if he's suffering from 20/20 hindsight ...
2
Friedman is despicable. April Bloomfield shares the responsibility for the constant and pervasive sexual harassment since she is co-owner and chef. I don't care how extraordinary her food is, she did nothing to protect the women who served her food and worked at her restaurant. Just because this is the culture in restaurants in general, does not excuse anything. She may have called her lawyers a few times in defense of these women, but the article makes clear the demeaning of women has been present since this restaurant opened. Friedman and Bloomfield are both a disgrace. Neither are off the hook. As for Batali, The Spotted Pig allowed an environment where he could be as disgusting towards women as he, and others, wanted to be.
40
I for one am waiting for the Koch Brothers to be accused of some kind of harassment, sexual or otherwise. Throw in Mercer as well. Then things will start to change.
7
too many leftists predators on the list for your liking?
5
I had wanted to dine at the Spotted Pig but given the recent news, I will instead boycott these restaurants and not put one dime in the pockets of these abusers:
Spotted Pig, the Breslin Bar & Dining Room, the John Dory Oyster Bar, Salvation Taco, White Gold Butchers, Tosca Cafe in San Francisco and the Hearth & Hound,
27
Go to Prune. Real cooking by a celeb chef who actually is still in the kitchen! Woman owned, woman run. Awesome food.
34
The behaviors in this article are disgusting. The restaurant was disgusting in more ordinary ways as well, with laughably bad food, impossibly cramped seating for non-celebrities, ridiculous wait times, etc. One brief visit was enough to wonder who’s handing out a Michelin star to a garbage experience. I left mid meal for something less terrible. I don’t mean to diminish the horrors experienced by the people profiled in the article. I hope something better in all ways takes its place.
9
It was all flirty and grab-assy. Sheesh. Like that squirrel said, "It was OK until someone (figuratively) lost a nut." I would have quit then and there. So sad.
3
The total dominance by the Patriarchy over millennia goes beyond those of us who today are #MeToo. Indeed, the irreparable assault of Mother Nature is surely another lethal consequence of hyper-masculine rapaciousness. Evolutionary reasons — articulated simply by Sam Keen who was wont to say: “when men open their flies their brains fall out” are finally, thankfully, no longer forgivable.
Until the last few decades, the innate testosterone-fueled male-impulse for power and control enabling the ability to provide and protect is something all of us — women and children primarily — have gained from. And yes, including from the assaults where some of us have been complicit. Why else the false eyelashes, skin-tight clothes and 7” heels?
To be sure men still dominate government, politics, law, banking, business, the economy and our ongoing exploitation of the environment — even though now we know better — please gratefully note today all those countries attending the OnePlanetSummit, in Paris. So let’s use this post Weinsteinian moment to dig deeper into the consequences of eons of devaluation of women and our innately more related and empathic Feminine principles — and let's not forget -- it is what's there in the hearts and brains of many good men too.
5
This article is timely and excellent, and provides important specific detail for those of us not in this particular industry who need a clearer understanding of the nature of the complaints we are now hearing daily from women employed in toxic workplaces. The descriptions are so consistent across employers and industries I think this makes the development of new restaurant management codes and regulations easier. They can be very specific and they can dictate what types of behavior a civil society will not tolerate, and prescribe specific penalties ranging from public admonishment to suspension of business license to criminal prosecution. Then everyone knows the rules, and we are not at the whim of entitled "celebrateurs".
7
We usually confuse fame and celebrity with greatness and honesty. I saw once a famous basketball player selling McDonald's french fries to on a TV advertisement. How great!
I fear that this great nation would end up like the Salem witch trials. Yes, sexual assault is wrong. But, would women start to use this as an excuse to punish men that they simply do not like?
5
That's right. Leave DJT alone.
1
Men use sexual assault to punish women all the time.
19
The term "playground of the stars" comes immediately to mind. Only, while it's gamers' delight, the staff must bite lip and bow to whatever humiliation or misbehavior is directed their way, and then to look pretty for tips. The label "service industry" suddenly takes on new meaning. It reminds me of Oliver Twist's immortal words, while scraping for shreds, "Please, Sir, may I have some more?" The ungodly image of these women having to accept such pillagings and plunderings is, in the end, thoroughly apt in this Era of Decency.
8
The sheer volume of the allegations and complaints is mind-boggling, as is the high profile of some of the serial abusers (who may have used their power to enable their behavior).
It is long-past time for a reckoning of how men treat women, and how many companies are generally managed, with little thought to employee empowerment, team building, and creating shareholder value (abusive behavior destroys shareholder value).
Kudos to those speaking up.
11
I'm tiring of all these claims. NO woman should be harassed. PERIOD. But when they DON'T tell anyone (for YEARS in some cases), and they DON'T quit the job, and they DON'T stop interacting with the accused...it's hard to take it seriously.
9
Lord Acton wrote, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely". Power went to the heads of these men and it seems to have hyper-sexualized them. These recent stories are could be made in a form letter and throughout history. It is terrible and it happens to children, women, the disenfranchised, minorities- anyone without power. The only thing that can change a culture of this kind is laws and rules ironclad. Then the problem is bureaucracy, trying to enforce them. It is good to have a reckoning. Maybe that is progress.
2
This is a shocking article. I have dined at several of these restaurants but never again and hope that others will feel the same way.
Wow. My thought is that we have a bunch of lawyers in this town who would, I bet, love to bring a bevy of Complaints against the dictatorial sexist Friedman and his uncaring partner who responded to the urgent pleas of her employees by giving them the option of just walking through the door. Unbelievable and totally disgusting. In my mind, each one of these cases is worth millions of dollars in terms of compensatory and punitive damages against both of them. Go get 'em Ladies. A ton of capable and caring attorneys in this town and across the Nation will be glad to help you.
In fact, I believe that the Mayor or someone in power should take immediate steps to suspend and later revoke the licenses necessary to maintain these places of business. That would close these places immediately and serve as a good first step towards running these two of town altogether.
15
This is what sexual harassment looks like at the hands of the "Pig in Chief" at the Spotted Pig. It ain't pretty. And, as another NYT article today point out, the people in HR and managers are often abusers themselves, or fear for their own jobs and do not report these incidents.
Speaking of "pigs in chief" I do hope there will be a full investigation of our President. Thank you Kirsten Gillibrand, for calling a pig a pig, and calling for his resignation.
And congrats to Doug Jones, who proved with his victory that even in a staunchly Republican state like Alabama, important ethical and legal issues like sexual assault of minors trumps (couldn't help myself) party lines.
11
"... Nonetheless I feel we have let down our employees and for that I sincerely apologize.” Uh-huh.
There's a place in hell, April.
32
Wow. Just got to the part about April Bloomfield. My god, what a traitor to all other women. She should be fired too.
26
It's her restaurant, she can't be fired, but she let this environment go on for years.
5
Has anyone been arrested? Nope. Anyone sued? Nope. Anyone outside a tiny circle of Manhattan restaurant types ever heard of this place? Nope? So why does this story merit a massive article in the New York Times? Because it's titillating gossip involving famous people (rock star investors!) and because it dovetails nicely with the Times' dopey, knee-jerk lefty politics. See how the New York Times bravely investigates wrongdoers! There used to be a time when this paper employed actual reporters and wrote about actual issues that actually mattered. Now, it writes long, juicy articles about celebrity finger-pointing, papered over with throw-them-to-the-lions faux moralizing. This is ridiculous.
8
This is an important article because it highlights the long, pervasive, sexual harassment of women. And no, I don't live in New York and yes, I've heard of The Spotted Pig. It's a very famous restaurant.
18
Shocking...
3
Ok, these jobs are not worth getting abused for. And when a bunch of co-workers have been abused, you know what's coming. A lot of the abuse happened in public. So you scream at the guy in front of all the customers using your choice of profanity. The customers may think you're insane or that Friedman is a creep. Who cares? When he fires you, you just move on.
To accusations that I am blaming the victims, I guess I am. They had nothing to lose and should just have given this creep what he deserved. And if one or more of them had, they would have prevented their co-workers from suffering the same fate. Crawling into a whole set Friedman free to keep up with his nonsense. And if anyone else knew what was going on, the same goes as to them.
2
Did you not read the whole article? "“Ken has tried to blacklist many people,” said Ms. Freihon, formerly of the Breslin. “The restaurant industry is very small and tight knit, and he does know everyone.”
“‘Everyone’ means the male chefs and the male restaurant owners and the male C.F.O.s,” she said. “Advancement is incredibly hard for women in this industry because you never know what the men are saying about you.”
So you scream at the guy and get blacklisted. This is abuse, and, until now, the result of calling it out would be loss of livelihood, and future blocking from related work (the work for which you are qualified). Yes, you ARE blaming the victims. We've had enough of that. Get behind the people who need support not the abusers!
18
I think it bears repeating that the sexual harassment of women was going on for many years and when people quit their jobs, they were blacklisted by Friedman. So stop shaming the women!!!
16
These jobs are worth up to six figures in an incredibly expensive city to live in. This kind of harassment is about power and control. It's not so easy and clear how to handle all this when you're a victim. So, maybe you shouldn't talk; maybe you should listen and learn and figure out how to support people who go through this terrible ordeal.
13
Christopher Dobney says, in another comment, "Looks like we're getting to the score-settling phase of the #MeToo hysteria."
NO, Mr. Dobney. It is much more than "female hysteria" as you boys like to call it.
The Sleeping Giant has awakened and SHE is furious. The Great Silent Majority is speaking - WOMEN - and they will no longer accept this deplorable behavior.
Not now. Not ever again.
37
Thank you. I'm hearing/reading comments about "#metoo hysteria" and "witch-hunts" quite regularly these days. It's infuriating and dispiriting, a reactionary backlash for which we have to be prepared, I guess.
7
I will repeat, what men did in the past should not be judged by today's by today's standard, which is still not settled. Women are stepping forward now because the standard has changed. Rationality must come to this issue.
Before anyone blasts me I am not talking about illegal acts.
5
Here's a flash for you: for women, the standard has not changed. We have always found sexual harassment to be repugnant. It is a particularly offensive variety of bullying.
What has changed is the increased safety that women feel to speak and to recognize that they are not responsible for, and thus shamed by, men's assaults.
22
Sexual harassment and abuse were never acceptable. The standard that’s changing is about the power to silence.
And there’s no statute of limitations on karma.
6
It’s amazing that she kept a work log even though she had no reason to believe that it would ever be useful. Hopefully the Labor Department gets the message and starts an investigation. It’s about time.
9
Harrowing to read these articles put together by the Times that are changing our society, tumbling leaders and institutions. I feel like years ago such behavior wouldn’t have been approached by a newspaper. Harrowing and interesting.
11
We don't really have words for it that are unassailable from one point of view or another, whether one calls it "morality" (too much religious connotation?) or decency (too judgmental?) or propriety (too Victorian?) or respect (too watered-down?) or whatever suits - I will use the word "morality." America at every turn seems to be without morality, without morals. Every day now we have these stories of entrenched debauchery in public, in secret rooms, on airplanes, all over the "social media," in news reports. We have people who are rich and famous, who will sell you anything from a plate of overpriced food to their books or albums or line of bull, in their secret rooms behaving badly, nastily. Is that how they were raised? Get rich and famous and debase and debauch with impunity? Is the crass, crude gold-plated huckster just reflecting his natural habitat, or are those other rich and famous low-lifes reflecting his? Where is Marie Antoinette? the Marquis de Sade? All these rich and famous who mock and belittle the "little guy" out there trying to make a living, taking care of his/her family, paying their taxes, trying to do the right thing. Meanwhile, in the secret rooms or the TV/movie studios, the bars and restaurants where the products are pornographic and obscene, those who debauch and those who are complicit laugh at the rest of us, say we are prudish, rigid, unsophisticated, silly rubes who don't understand how the world works. The line of bull just keeps on coming.
15
And we have run away from religious faith in this country at warp speed and then wonder where our moral basis went.
3
Yeah, Roy Moore is a fantastic example of a proper Christian ! I like my church and State separated, thanks.
15
April Bloomfield's behavior demonstrates poor judgement and a disgraceful amount of selfishness, greed and disrespect.
Like many who have read this story, not only will I not support Friedman's establishments, but I certainly skirt anything that puts money in her pocket. Shame on April Bloomfield!
21
I agree!
9
"The James Beard Foundation’s mission is to celebrate, nurture, and honor chefs and other leaders making America's food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone."
And the first criterion for their Outstanding Restaurateur award: "A working restaurateur who sets high national standards in restaurant operations and entrepreneurship."
JBF, What's your process?!
18
At some point I'd really like to see some research into the psychology behind the cultures of entitlement that create these abusive people. In my opinion it all goes back to the notion of specialness or genius. Talented but deeply insecure people surround themselves with sycophants - who might be powerful people in their own right: critics, curators, power-brokers of various sorts - who see in the unrestrained behavior of the "genius" what they believe they themselves lack: enormous willpower and single-mindedness. To a man like Mr. Friedman, his genius justifies his behavior, but to his many enablers his behavior is proof of his genius.
6
Striking how many commenters here are focusing on April Bloomfield.
Every abusive man has close relationships with women. Most are married and many have daughters. Many champion women while at the same time abusing them. A few partner with them in business. Bloomfield can't escape her connections to Friedman during this exposure, but how many of you would, in her position, risk it all by standing up to him. It appears no one did.
Was this her cross to bear? What about all the employees who silently tolerated it, because they needed to keep their jobs and the money was good?
Look at Kayla Moore, fighting for her life while protecting Roy Moore (now a loser). What a terrible role to have to play. Defend, or leave. Them's the possibilities.
Sure, get made at Bloomfield. Then ask yourselves: how many of you have stood in her shoes, and done nothing, for the same reasons?
11
Yes, she absolutely should have stood up to him. I would have. Most women I know would have.
8
Friedman is to blame, no question. But Bloomfield shares the responsibility since she co-owned this restaurant. After a few years, she had established a reputation where she could have gotten rid of Friedman and bought him out. As for the workers, many were blacklisted by Friedman when they left.
Some of us DO, indeed, have the integrity to stand up for other women. I was only in my early 20's when I was taking the packed subway in N.Y. and a man standing behind me started leaning on me and touching by body. Mortified, I elbowed him but he didn't stop. I very loudly said, "whoever has his hand on my a**, get it off right now". People around me laughed. Not a single person came to my defense. But he moved away and put his hands between the legs of a woman in front of me who was wearing white pants. She turned red, she was frozen. In an equally loud voice, I told him to get his hands off her. He shouted back for me to mind my own business. I told him it WAS my business because he had just put his hands on me. I told him I was going to call a cop. In retrospect, that was pretty silly because the train was packed, no cop in sight. He got off the next stop. This was in the early 70's when not many people were speaking up. There were many such incidents on the subway. There was never once a man to come to my defense. Nor woman.
5
Bloomfield is a co-owner, equally responsible for maintaining a safe workplace.
9
Having eaten at many of their establishments, and not been impressed by the food, it is plain to see that Ms. Bloomfield and Mr. Friedmans restaurants were clearly designed to embody a clubby, boys only atmosphere, much like the still operating men only clubs in Britain. You don't go for the food, but to ogle and grope the attractive staff.
9
What occurred to me as I read the article was the story and film of the same name, Like Water for Chocolate. How can the food be delicious if all these horrible actions are taking place around the chef?
1
Is this kind of blackballing threat--- and actuality-- prosecutable?
5
"Contacted through her agent, Ms. Poehler said, “I have no recollection of this, but it’s horrible.”"
But let me stress that "no recollection" part!
What a gross phony.
17
Hopefully Bloomfield follows Friedman and Batali out the door; no question she’s complicit. Disgusting, reprehensible behavior.
28
April Bloomfeld, Ann Burrell, Bordaiin, Chang, Bolude, Riepert, George,and all the other chefs and managers, you have been enablers.
Batali, Friedman et. al. you need to be punished legally and financially to the fullest extent.
15
It may be worth committing a crime when his new prison canteen "The Striped Pyjama" opens early next year.
10
Ms.Bloomfield - guys like Friedman continue to survive behaving this way precisely because people like you are complicit.
You should also quit for enabling him to harass and demean other women.
31
Well, behind every one of the wretched men now splattered across the media is at least one woman--and usually many, many more--more than happy to enable him and his vile behavior as long as she*s able to derive some benefit from it.
I was always a little person who could never afford to lose a job, all my years as a Noo Yawkuh, often working for so-called liberal non-profit organizations, and yet I always stood up for justice and against injustice, regardless of the consequences, and certainly sometimes there were indeed consequences. So I*d find another job if I had to.
Sorry. Human nature is not a pretty thing. If women were actually more evolved than men are, these stories would end. They*re not, and they won*t.
13
Thoroughly disgusting in every way. The Spotted Pig needs to be shut down, immediately. Is that fair to the servers? Of course not. But Bloomfield and Friedman needs to lose their empire.
15
"Ken Friedman, the owner of the Spotted Pig"
In which case, would Spotted Dick qualify as a ... just dessert?
6
That's pretty funny in a not-funny situation.
5
Part of me blames my beloved 4th estate--didn't any of the reviewers who raved about Friedman's joints all those years ever look past their plates to see what he was up to?
13
One owner is just a pig. The other sacrificed her employees for money. I hope they both get sued to high heaven, go broke and spend years in shame.
17
Vote with your feet. Take your dollars elsewhere and not into the wallets of Mr. Friedman or his enabler Ms. Bloomfield.
21
Maybe men will finally stop doing this when their businesses are ruined as a consequence. I will never eat at any of Bloomfield’s or Friedman’s places again. Women who abet these men are the worst. Keep reporting NYT. Bring them all down.
25
All of the restaurants owned by these sexual predators should be boycotted. I feel sorry for the innocent workers in these restaurants who will lose their jobs, but these pigs, Friedman the owner of the Spotted Pig!! should not earn any more money.
And Mario Batali. I didn't like him when I met him several months ago at his latest Barnes & Noble book signing in Union Square. Someone in the audience asked this liberal hypocrite what he thought about the upcoming raising of the minimum wage and he was against it! He said that paying busboys and waiters more would cause restaurant owners like himself (greedy multi-millionaire) to greatly increase prices so we should enjoy eating in restaurants now before they become too expensive. Sitting in the middle of Union Square I thought some liberal in the audience would challenge that statement, but no one did.
20
What is liberal about a minimum wage rise? That paying employees more increase prices of the service or product offered should be self-evident. But socialists in Germany (we have them and they aren't "liberal") where also aghast about all those small buinesses like barbers in rural areas that had to give up or set employees free because customers were more sparse and reluctant. That was no capitalist conspiracy on the business owners side (many just getting by) and not everyone can cushion those effects with their millions. Also I always felt that the average person is on average as greedy as greedy millionaires. It normally shows when put to the test. You better lock that office supply room and have a process for withdrawals. As a student tutor some 30 years ago I stole too much paper clips, I still have some of them.
1
Thanks for naming the liberal democrat "entertainers" that pompously patronized those Friedman haunts!
8
Wow. What does being a democrat have to do with this issue? Political alliances have nothing to do with this abhorrent behavior. Let's not cloud the issue. We're talking about the swines running the restaurant and the kitchen here....
11
He sounds like a meth-fueled maniac and she should have her knives taken away. Thanks, April, for protecting your sisters.
19
I hope Ms. Bloomfield can live with her decision to sell her soul to the devil in exchange for her lofty position. Shame on her.
16
Talk about a spotted pig. I wish these women would toss a glass of wine in the face of one of these restaurant owners one of these days. And in front of celebs would be wonderful-The Friedmans and Batalis deserve it.
9
Unbelievable. Makes the whole glamour life style look pretty ugly indeed. Makes you want to stay home and knit.
20
Shame, shame on April Bloomfield. Her name is associated with her successful restaurants. How dare she hide at her stove as she takes in the profits while taking no responsibility for the sordid actions under her roof. Her business in great part is supported by the women of NYC. I loved the spotted pig and John Dory but am now sickened that I supported this enterprise and will not return.
24
Spotted Pig, indeed.
7
It seems there are plenty of complicit women. Amy Pohler let this behaviour slide? Ms. Bloomfield is just barely not as guilty as this pig. I wish someone would pound men like this into a pulp, maybe then they would get it.
11
Seems the biggest Spotted Pig is the owner.
12
This is a very, very upsetting story; to treat your employees like garbage, like personal toys, or like servants there to do your bidding. Not only Mr. Friedman should resign, but Ms. Bloomfield as well. What a nasty, narcissistic, ugly couple they make. I'm sorry, but my reaction to this is to nauseate me. Those texts are so typical of the way so many men just keep pushing at you and forcing you to think that if you don't hand over your body to them to do with as they please, that there's something wrong with you. And that Ms. Bloomfield not only turned a blind eye, but seemed to be completely cold and calculating about protecting herself above all else, is horrifying. Add to that a list of some of my least favorite, spoiled rotten celebrities who partied upstairs, and I realize that to become a celebrity it's not talent and perseverance that counts, it's unbridled ego, a sense that only what your ambition requires is what matters, a refusal to behave in even the most basic civilized manner to the people whom you employ, is beyond outrageous. It's obscene. I hope these two people never open another restaurant.
17
Spotted pig, indeed.
3
I guess now it should be called THE BESOTTED PIG.
2
Ugh, April Bloomfield is such a sell out.
11
A person with an establishment is shockingly vulnerable to vandalism. A drunk homeless person wandering in, kids breaking windows, a car parked in the street is bricked, rats in the kitchen and cockaroach casings on the floor. Or even a well timed call to the IRS. It's hard being a restauranteer.
So, I guess the restaurant's name isn't a clever gag.
2
Friedman's behavior is beyond abominable. He should be exiled from the restaurant business forever and shamed as the ogre he is. But Ms. Bloomfield's complicity, her pure sin of omission, should leave a bad taste in every prominent chef's mouth. She said she always worked in service of her food and menu planning. Unfortunately she turned the other way while the very women she worked with were often her partner's main course.
15
Working in service of her menu. Ha. What a miserable attempt to justify her reprehensible behavior. Was it greed, April? Why?
5
and...... I guess Amy Poehler, who allegedly witnessed this sexual harassment just did nothing? So truly revolting. We women have been programmed to turn a blind eye or two at all these gross shenanigans for how long? Cannot wait till the Fashion Industry starts to unravel.. I think the Shmata biz wrote the penultimate book on harassment- or at least it seemed so when I was working in it in the 90s. I need some Purell just thinking about it.
8
Book publishing is yet another business that has a similar sordid history of mistreating women and young people of all sexes entering that business. This article brought to mind dozens horror stories.
5
I trust the Times will no longer run glowing profiles of Bloomfield. Let’s make way for other talented chefs and restaurateurs, ones who possess both spines and hearts.
21
Frank Bruni gave Spotted Pig only one star. Same for a more recent review in The NY Times.
1
I like how they take a leave of absence as if that means anything. It means nothing. Mario Batali is an ego maniac, its obvious, and won't give up his empire.
5
its called the "Spotted Pig" for a reason.....
3
Then that should have been on the lede, not later in the piece. Even the failed subway bomber got “authorities said.” As the sentence read, the reader comes away with the impression that the reporter is concluding that the accusation is true, and even that the reporter has an agenda. That detracts from the story’s credibility. I know nothing about this restauranteur or his restaurant, and I don’t care. I do care about careful writing, even if it offends popular opinion.
1
Close all male owned restaurants and fire all employees, that'll teach 'em.
A restaurant that serves a $26 burger is simply a pretentious sham for people with money to burn.
Ms. Rza Betts text messages to Friedman are an inspiring display of personal integrity.
14
So many people are complicit starting with Friedman. Bloomfield is a total disgrace as are the investors and so called high profile customers who witnessed some of this. All about money and being seen and mingling with people who have no moral compass. If we stop worshipping at the altar of money and fame much of this would have been stopped years ago. We saw this behavior documented in I believe the Times article about this industry which make hihlighted many low paid females putting up with this nonsense to feed their families. What really has to happen I see that we support these women when he they complain in real time. And Friedman and Bloomfield should never ever set foot in this industry again.
6
Deeper in the article, it states there were women that were willing to work for him because he treated them well, if they put up with his advances. That is disturbing. People are not trained animals, they should stay away from the stick and the carrot approach from their boss. If you work for a person where you have to kowtow to their sexual desires to keep your job, that job is not worth keeping.
6
It's time for April Bloomfield, and all other women who enable male sexual predators in their workplaces, to start losing their jobs, too. Handing off a report of workplace harassment to someone else, because you wanted to "direct" your "energies" somewhere else is called cowardice, and is an utter breakdown of both management standards and basic human compassion.
14
REALITY: we are reaching the point of disbelief if not there already
3
Well that restaurant is toast.
4
Most of these obnoxious revelations of predatory behavior are coming from the 'arts' world, broadly fine arts, music and culinary arts etc. Maybe this has been true historically, but game over boys!
5
Oh, it will come out about Wall Street and white shoe law firms, no doubt. Will just take longer.
5
I bet it's less common on Wall Street. The rule of Wall Street is MAKE MONEY. A hedgefund manager might not risk alienating a money making female employee. Restaurant staff are, by comparison, easy to replace. One doesn't harass a goose the lays golden eggs. I think it's a way more likely that a waitress without a college degree would get harassed than a female MBA from Northwestern brining in 10 mil a year in investment money.
Here's what's going to happen:
Avoid eating at The Spotted Pig, or any other restaurants associated with them.
Avoid eating at any of Bloomfield's restaurants.
Avoid eating at any Batali associated establishment.
Avoid eating at Santina. Why? Because we can, my dollars count! You hurt us we hurt you where it counts. This is NYC, so many other better choices!
26
Yes, many other choices, the best of which is making your own delicious, healthy food at home. Don't know how to cook? The New York Times has a treasure trove of hundreds of recipes with great instructions.
2
Chef Bloomfield and many other women will now have to be reckoned with: "Qui tacet consentire videtur ubi loqui debuit ac potuit."
If you want to change the culture, you have to focus on behavior. Including what people did NOT do.
5
Yvette Vega brushed off complaints about Charlie Rose's behavior saying, "That's just Charlie being Charlie," instead of confronting the abuser, April Bloomfield has done the exact same thing." Nice work, ladies. :(
12
No apology will ever give these women their dignity back in the moment you caused them humiliation. But now that you and April are being called out in complicit degradation of your employees, no customer will ever be able to have a dignified meal again in a house built on shame. Your blind ambition placed food over kindness to your supportive staff. The one recipe you never learned: the one for disaster.
5
These women were definitely humiliated, but they will hopefully take back their dignity and own it.
In light of all the recent revelations of sexual harassment it is interesting how cheap and inane apologies have become
But then I wouldn't expect more considering who is apologizing.
5
"That’s who he is. Get used to it. Or go work for someone else."
Whatever, April. What a shame that that's who YOU are! My friends and I were really looking forward to dining at Hearth & Hound. Guess we'll be taking our business elsewhere. Get used to it.
22
Exactly right, Robin!
5
Sounds like there are as many enablers as victims in this space. These guys may be pigs, spotted or not, but they tend to be intelligent and coldly rational even while hot-headed. They are not crazy enough to keep on doing this stuff if it doesn't work often enough to be worth the (minimal, til now) risk.
5
I was going to go and check out the Hearth & Hound, but forget it. Friedman will never get my money, but neither will April Bloomfield or any of his other enablers. Shame on all of them.
13
Given April’s apparent role and status, she seems almost as guilty as Friedman.
I realize that the men are often the actor in these situations but in this case he seems to have had a lot of help from a woman who could have stopped it.
She should be kicked out just like Friedman.
6
This type of abuse happens when employers feel they own their employees. The imbalance of power in the American workplace and the lack of any real protection for at-will employees will guarantee the emotional, physical, and sexual abuse will continue
12
Not to take away from the serious issues in this story, but did anyone else notice that Ms. Betts' anecdote about getting the texts asking for a photo is attributed to 2009, but the screenshot of the texts says 2010? Which is it?
Does it matter? Is that at all relevant?
I am disgusted that I spent a penny at this restaurant for mediocre food. As each story comes out it sickens me that so many witnesses were silent. Mario Batalis apology sounds like his publicist or his therapist wrote it. I think I'll cook at home for awhile.
12
I never ate Bloomfield's food, but I'm wondering. If it is really mediocre, was she kept on by Friedman just because she kept silent about the enormous amount of ongoing abuses? If so, it shows a level of complicit planning that is even more disgusting. Just wondering...
1
All these allegations make my head spin. I am sure they have merit and should be vigorously investigated. But what has happened to the concept of due process?
I am sure my post will attract considerable negative response. But I just cannot remain silent. All cases must be rigorously investigated. But please, can we follow legal norms?
3
This article was extensively researched, including interviews with people who could back up the subjects’ individual stories (I was one such interviewee, who was close to a victim of Friedman’s repulsive behavior in the 00’s). At least in this case, the NYT very much did their due diligence and made sure there was a “there” there. This sort of diligence is essential when a story may end multiple careers.
7
David
these are not legal proceedings , if the servers had / have brought assault charges to the judicial system , you could have a point . this is reporters doing their work ...
OK OK it could be "fake news "
2
Definitely beginning to tire of these men's "apologies." It's starting to sound like "it's better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission," which translates to, "I do what I want, then toss out a lazy 'sorry' when someone complains."
6
Working with Friedfield Breslin for 2 years, this story does not suprise me. Though I will note that As a female employee, Ken Friedman was always kind and professional
Towards me even though I’d heard stories. April Bloomfield, on the other hand, always turned a blind eye. Her restaurants host a wild, often fun, but often unreasonably abusive environment for aspiring restaurant professionals. The fact that she never spoke up to support or protect her employees is a disgrace.
12
Like Weinstein, this person seems not only to be a sexual predator, but just also just a highly toxic person, who generally treated employees and colleagues horribly and threatened and demeaned them. It is surprising to me that people who on the surface are seen as successful can be so despicable. I don't know how they can live with themselves. These kinds of people need to be exposed for what they are -- which are massive failures on a human level.
7
Guess he is still qualified to be president of the United States.
1
I think I just saw in the sky a cat, pulling on one of the largest yarn balls in human history.
2
This story reflects terribly on the James Beard Foundation. Obviously JBF does not perform much, if any, due diligence on its award candidates. It's hard to believe they could have chosen this guy as restauranteur of the year?!
4
serious !!??
JBF is keeping the flame of celebrity cheffery alive , not looking for women's safety in the workplace
4
This is what the American ‘Arab Spring’ looks like... and the story it reveals is bone chilling and even more shocking than the actual event by that name.
The disgusting circumstances that women in this country endure is because American capitalism makes absolutely no space for respecting human rights. Anything goes, any behavior is normalized.
If you complain you are fired, and another is hired. This makes impossible any culture of protest...
...until one spoke up and was heard and everyone realized, that all it takes is speaking out loud and clear.
‘It only takes a spark to get a fire going’
10
Can we please stop using the mushy euphemism of "misconduct" now? These aren't teenagers jumping subway turnstiles. They're adult men with power who are groping, physically and verbally harassing, abusing their power over underlings, and worse. From Trump on down, tell it like it is and stop equivocating, media.
10
I worked in the USA for a construction equipment dealer. They were good people; but there were two guys who would hire, have sex with, then fire women. They got away with it. I can't help thinking this is part of American culture. Not all men, but a lot of them. Then I worked for a French company. A few married men had mistresses; there was no hire, sex, fire. Vive la Difference!
Oh and by the way, no one deserves 6 figure pay for bringing food to a table, another pet peeve of mine with the American restaurant business. Cook and eat at home! Invite your friends!
2
" deserves " ?
while we're at it who determines who deserves anything ? howzabout $12 million a year to "run" a hospital !
5
Permit me to play devil's advocate. I predict major blowback from this #metoo movement. What's to stop businesses from simply refusing to hire women? It will save them a lot of grief and money. I realize that discrimination in hiring based on gender is illegal, but it is also extremely difficult to prove, isn't it?
2
No it isn't difficult to prove when the environment is pervasive and repetitive. As for women being hired, when decent people with integrity are doing the hiring, they will hire women. AND, when women take over businesses, and are interested in giving a hand to other women climbing the ladder in any field and not kicking them back down, is when we will see great change in our country. It will take time, but it will happen. Women have had enough!
5
Never dining there again.
6
How about blacklisting Spotted Pig?
4
Good. I was sick of walking by that place anyway and looking at their pretentious shrubbery.
9
i did 20 years in the biz as a chef from 1980-2000 in central jersey..you don't wanna know..i saw it all, drugs, drink, general craziness.. we called it good times..pulling the wool back on the restaurant biz is nothing new, but it always took its toll on the workers or the owners..not sustainable
4
Why is high-end restaurant culture so disgusting, so toxic, so far beyond the reach of accountability that such outrages have continued unpunished? Sometimes I wish we were back in Puritans times, so that pigs like Besh, Batali, Friedman, etc could be put in the stocks or lashed in the public square--along with their enablers like Bloomfield.
7
Ken Friedman and Mario Batali once completely freaked out on me while i attended a party held in their upstairs room at spotted pig. Ken was crazy - shouting at me that the party was way past its scheduled end time. They had jay z and beyonce with them and their bodyguard. I explained it wasn't my party and that id be happy to leave but ken insisted i get everyone to leave. I refused and begged to be able to just leave. It was winter and he wouldn't let me get my coat until beyonces bodyguard stepped in and insisted i be allowed to get my coat. Mario was giggling the whole time. They were animals and they have been an embarrassment to NY for a long time. Good riddance to these crude beasts.
13
Drinking, drugs, emotional manipulation, physical and sexual abuse. Heavy codependency between him and his business partner and him and their entire staff. Not to dismiss the owners’ reprehensible behavior, one might also note that every person involved probably arrived there as a childhood trauma survivor. Attracted to the dysfunction like moths to a flame.
4
If I were from Missouri, I'd say show me the evidence. So many women are coming forward with accusations of alleged incidents, it's difficult to lend credibility to allegations that happened years, even decades before. It's turned into a situation of a mass man-hunt led by this new wave by feminists focused on attempts to emasculate all the men they've ever met in their life. Defamation of character can ruin reputations, destroy lives, and break up families, and most people aren't aware it's also punishable by imprisonment, fines, or combination of both. Even if the accused filed a civil lawsuit for defamation, slander or libel and won their case, the damage is irreparable. We need to defer judgment unless there's irrefutable proof, not based on hearsay.
3
“He’s a very large man. He likes to threaten to fire people. He liked to remind people he was the boss.” I was confused who this is referring to.
1
"You have to make people feel like they’re valued,” Brennan said during a recent interview at her Garden District home. “If they feel that, they’ll do their best. And what you want from people is their best, whatever that is for them.” Ella Brennan. Bloomfield could learn a lesson or two from Brennan.
6
Need a dollop of optimism?
Buy the book, read her story and be inspired
by the passion and generosity of "Miss Ella of Commander's Palace".
2
Sorry to hear Amy Poehler doesn't (or won't) recall. Could she fear damage to her own career? Perhaps being blacklisted?
I hope there are huge financial awards against the business and him personally. Some celebrity customers may have visited as much for the drugs as for the food. Sounds like the 3rd floor invitation only room may be a kind of speakeasy for drugs.
5
Does anybody seriously think this was an "equal" partnership? Regardless of how it looks on paper, Ms. Bloomfield very (very!) likely had as much or more to lose from confronting her aggressive partner. More that the others, she probably feels extremely trapped. Unable to leave (why, people would ask?), and unable to change partner's behavior (who wants to bet he was just as nasty behind closed doors?), unable to sell ownership position because the gross value of the restaurants is largely tied up in her. And unable to bail since she probably has punitive clauses in the partnership papers. Don't be too hard on Ms. Bloomfield. Abusers like Friedman run a zero sum game. That's why it goes on so long.
8
Sorry. She did nothing to help the women who served her food. She is complicit.
2
“Advancement is incredibly hard for women in this industry because you never know what the men are saying about you.”
And that could be said about just about any field.
9
Recently heard that in a much smaller downtown venue, the owner somehow learned that the wait staff was going to stage a walkout. so he threatened to call immigration and have them all deported. i heard about it after the fact and was shocked by how empty the restaurant was on a Saturday night. Word had gotten around to patrons, and they have been boycotting.
4
Recently I attended a taping of The Chew with an out of town friend. Between taping during breaks, all hosts were so friendly, interacting with the audience and signing cookbooks. Except for Mario Battali. He acted like he was above it all. So distant and pompous.
I glad he got taken down. God sits high and looks low.
4
“Ms. Seet says that when she finally resigned, Mr. Friedman wrote her a long, profanity-filled email threatening to blackball her in the industry.
“Soon afterward, she moved back to New York to take a job as general manager of Santina, a restaurant near the High Line that was being opened by the high-profile Major Food Group. But two days before she was to start, the group abruptly rescinded the offer; Ms. Seet said a senior manager told her that Mr. Friedman had ordered them not to hire her. (Her account was corroborated by the manager and a former assistant to Mr. Friedman.)”
This is a slam dunk lawsuit. He threatened to blackball her, and then he acted upon the threat. Pair this wil Bloomfield refusing to help employees coming to her for relief from her partner’s predations, and there should be enoygh to bankrupt both the company and its principals.
17
In my humble opinion, it seems to me that Ms. Bloomfield had to be aware, in some way, of Mr. Friedman's behavior, whether you want to call it familiar restaurant business silliness or whether you want to call it sexual harassment. Did she ever discuss any issues with him about how he acted around the women employed at her restaurants, or was it just about the bottom line and the lust for profit? The culture of harassment of women in the workplace must stop, and if it means revealing the truth to the world about the culture of abuse, crudity, and narcissism, then that's what has to happen.
3
It's astonishing to witness the decline of a long-standing toxic cultural norm, i.e. the privilege and impunity afforded to economically, socially or politically successful men in our culture. As a troubled and disempowered adolescent, I noticed and was jealous of such men, who seemed to be able to get away with abusive behavior simply because of their social status, as an athlete, e.g. As an adult, I have experienced glimpses of this kind of power, and can attest to its intoxicating allure. The influence of a feminist mother and reinforcing studies in college always caused me to back away from actual abuse, but I can imagine how I might have behaved had those mores not kept me in check. Mr. Friedman is apparently an all too familiar trope, especially in "power cities" like NY - the ranting infantile ego who oscillates between white hot anger and lude sexual predation. I hope this moment spurs us all to redefine the boundries of acceptable behavior, and ushers in a new era of "enthustiastic consent" as the only standard for men to feel permission to sexualize social interactions. I also hope it won't trigger another Trumpian backlash of men who suddenly feel disempowered because they lost a privilege they never should have had.
4
I have eaten at these restaurants many times over the years and I was ecstatic to have White Gold open in my neighborhood. However, in all good conscience I just can't enrich owners of a business who engage in this behavior or enable their business partners to do so. Yes, I know my actions will hurt the loyal and innocent employees of these establishments, but the experience isn't worth the cost to those who have been hurt by these sociopaths and prima donnas.
5
I worked a number of food service jobs when I was younger and was abused at every one of if them. All manner of insults, many of them sexual, were screamed at me. Threats were common. Knives were slammed on tables near my fingers. To this day I can say some absolutely horrible things in Greek. I’m male (and not Greek!) Like the women in this story I voted with my feet when I’d had enough. So why is my story different? How much of this stuff do we really want to legislate and police anyway?
8
The most nauseating restaurant dish I ever ate in my life was by April Bloomfield when she was guest chef at Bar Marmont in LA about 10 years ago. It was meatballs that turned out to have RARE pork inside. I took one bite and realized what it was and nearly threw up. I had nightmares of having tapeworm or some other parasite that comes from raw pork for months after that. I used to eat there all the time but never went back after that, or back to any restaurant she cooked in, including the Spotted Pig (are the spots worms?), which my NY friends always wanted to drag me to. I have always considered that dish that night to be a form of assault - what chef does that, putting their client's health in danger like that? As if by being a celebrity chef she could serve up disease and expect people to eat it? It was insulting. This article actually makes me feel exactly how I did biting into that meatball. So gross, so horrifying. Ughhh I still feel it in my stomach, how nauseating.
5
This comment brings up a question I raised earlier. If Bloomfield was not a good cook, was she with Friedman just because she was willing to gave cover to his abuses?
3
Probably a lot easier to get a reservation now. As it should be.
3
I've worked in the food industry as cook and chef both in New York and Paris for 35 years. I can think of one decent nice boss I've had during that time.
Restaurants attract psychos, I'm afraid, and anyone in the business will agree with me.
I still cook but not in restaurants.
Never again. As far as sexual harassment, try working
in French kitchen when you are a young woman trying to
learn a craft!
5
I note a double standard. Billy Bush was fired from the Today show because he seemingly countenanced Donald Trump's talk of degrading women. Amy Poehler actually witnessed up front the degradation and humiliation of a human being and claims she has no recollection of an event she admits was "horrible." Underscoring her indifference, she issued her comment through her agent.
It's fitting that Poehler's "Parks and Recreation" airs on NBC. That's the network that killed its Harvey Weinstein expose, allowed Matt Laurer's despicable behavior, and employed and featured a host of predators who have been fired. We now know how fitting it was for Poehler to co-host the Golden Globes. Just another Hollywood enabler.
Why are animals rights activists remaining silent? They should be out in full force demanding that NBC immediately cease from calling itself the Peacock network. Peacocks don't deserve having their image tarred and feathered by such a discredited and shameful organization. NBC's logo should be an ostrich with its head in the sand.
3
"Midnight in the Restaurant of Good and Evil" -- In the midst of our national uproar about the mistreatment of women in the workplace, so long delayed, will we ever have the courage to address the root cause here -- a culture that celebrates, encourages and profits from the breakdown of basic morality?
mo.ral.i.ty (noun) -- principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.
No, I'm not talking about Victorian morality or "patriarchy" or religious doctrine or homophobia or any of that. I'm talking about the most basic principles of human conduct:
-- You don't harass, demean, denigrate, rape or fondle your employees or coworkers.
-- You treat everyone with the same modicum of dignity that we all deserve as human beings.
-- You take ownership for your successes AND failures.
-- Celebrity, power and wealth are no excuse...ever...for rapacity and the mistreatment of others.
Can we, please, agree on at least this tiny patch of "common ground" going forward? And if so, can we commit to defending at least this type of morality in our daily lives?
7
Just because there's meat on the menu is no reason for chefs and investors to treat employees like their own personal meat market.
1
As a 4 year ex-employee of their restaurant group, none of this is surprising and frankly I'm shocked it took this long to come to light. Ken was widely acknowledged to be crass, erratic, stoned, and entitled. HR's response to this fiasco is a joke. Besides the "handbook" (a useless PDF of legal speak), speaking up was discouraged and retribution was to be expected. They didn't even have HR in place until very recently.
Beyond rampant misogyny - bullying, shaming, and other mentally abusive practices were accepted as the norm. Managers received no formal training and manipulated staff in order to protect their own image/job security and avoid altercations with Ken + April.
I didn't realize how much working for this company had destroyed my self esteem. As leaders, K+A were horribly organized, poor communicators, and took zero personal responsibility for their actions. Their failures and frustrations were frequent (just look at the 70 Pine project). At the time, it was easy to get swept up in the hype of their flashy openings, awards, and industry connection. It took a few years of personal work (and anxiety medication) to get past how worthless working for these people truly made me feel.
19
Many NYC restaurants require headshots. Young and attractive women (and men) who are pleasant, agreeable, and accommodating are rewarded by management with better shifts because they bring in higher sales. This is the case in every upscale NYC restaurant, and when this hiring formula and scheduling practice is combined with “playful restaurant culture,” which is really just a euphemism for behavior that would be called sexual harassment in any other industry, well…it results in stories like this one i.e managers who cross the line to varying degrees and people who do not come forward.
Meanwhile the back of the house staff is comprised of immigrants (whose status is often questionable) and minorities who earn a pitiful hourly wage compared to what the servers are taking home. They are the hardworking, invisible backbone of the restaurant industry. When we talk about sexual harassment we are really talking about power. And we should remember that the victims we are discussing here in this article have far more leverage than the vast majority of hourly-paid restaurants employees that we continually ignore, whose miserable earnings and lack of benefits are the only reason that most of these restaurants are even profitable in the first place.
12
"Ms. Berg, the company’s recently hired human resources director, said in a statement that employees now go through anti-harassment training sessions and that personnel policies have been outlined in an employee handbook." um, head's up to Ms. Berg, sounds like the owners need the training not the staff...
4
The aptly named The Spotted Pig and other work places will definitely see a change in culture due to the recent disclosures of alleged sexual misconduct. My wife has observed over the years that all men are 'pigs'. Hyperbole? Yes. Truthful? To some extent. Another male friend recently quipped: "Now you can get fired for 'striking out'." The labels often used in these situations/stories sometimes don't seem to fit the acts described in some of the reported instances. We now need to have a calmly debated forum where we can draw the lines more clearly (i.e. gain a consensus) so that normal flirtations in the workplace or outside aren't labeled 'predatory' or 'misconduct'. Or, a misconstrued comment or touch isn't grounds for unemployment. Also, I am pretty sure that this should not be adjudicated by the media either. In some of the cases, the lines to be drawn need to be clearer and better understood. Our kids and grandkids will be even more affected by this positive cultural shift. They must also deal with the reality that the real robots are coming in droves to the workplace soon anyway. We need a forum to get these lines established ASAP so we don't inadvertently create more cultural division.
Just canceled my reservation at Spotted Pig to celebrate our 48th anniversary. If this keeps up with celebrity chefs we might have to go to Mc Donald's to celebrate.
8
"I feel guilty even talking to you about it..." The last line in the article encapsulates why this has gone on unchecked for so long; women feel guilty. The victim feels guilty, why? Male domination over women's thoughts has to change and women are the only ones who can change this. Own your life, stand up for yourself, call out ILLEGAL behavior. Overwhelm the system until it breaks down due to the sheer numbers. Do not give up on yourself. Police don't help, HR is complicit, much the same as April Bloomfield is, and women have only themselves and their friends to move this forward. Don't give up! And don't stay silent!
7
When will Pete Wells and other reviewers include this kind of info about restaurant owners, chefs, etc, in their reviews. It's not ALL about the food. It's about all the creeps.
8
The abuse aspect reminds me of that key feature of "reality" shows like Kitchen Nightmares - the prima-donna chef hurling insults at hapless/helpless staff.
How entertaining! What could go wrong?
Next spin-off - Kitchen Nightmares S.V.U.?
5
From Project Runway to celebrity chefs, I never watch programs that demean others. Initially, I was so excited to watch Project Runway. I stopped watching midway during my first viewing. Shows like these demean and degrade both men and women, and I'm not having any of it.
3
April’s apology letter is disgusting. She was only in charge of the kitchen? Come on. She knew. I’m no longer staying the the Ace Hotels or eating at any of the restaurants and the cookbooks will find a new home in the trash can. I’m so let down.
I’ve worked in many restaurants, have definitely enjoyed a closeness with fellow workers that you don’t get in other work environments. But it was never sexually charged.
Maybe April was harassed too. But based on that ridiculous apology, I’m going to say no. It’s even worse when a woman won’t defend another woman.
I’m done with it all. I hope they are too. In more ways than one.
7
More than anything, I am sadden by these allegations. I had my share of inapproprite behavior directed at me by men in the workplace. However, I immediately dealt with it as an adult no matter the consequences. I didn’t want revenge, I just wanted to be treated respectfully. I took my complaints to bosses, to HR, and of course to the person. I also twice used my husband having him make an appearance. I did not get fired and my relationships with these men was not harmed.
We need to change tv programs and movies that often have women portrayed as sexual objects that are barely dressed. Hollywood supports limiting gun ownership, but makes movies filled with gun violence. So that begs the question of whether movies will sell without sex and guns? Watch tv ads. Can a product be sold without selling sex? Many actors and actresses are blurring lines every day. They are sending mixed messages. Look at our young teen models that dress as if they are 30 and again selling sex. I can remember when young models dressed their age. They looked cute and pretty. Wholesome. That is not the case today. They are sexualized very early. The industry has allowed this.
Mellissa Milano plays a sexualized part on Charmed. She could play the same part without dressing provactively. Sorry, but both genders have made many bad decisions and caused blurred lines. It is time to look in the mirror. Be truthful. Are you contributing to the problem, or part of the solution?
1
Good to see that also the general abuse is being highlighted here, in addition to the sexual harassment: manipulation of staff, threatening of them kicking them out, nepotism-like culture where only people of trust are getting the position of power like a manager and, the enabling - which, to a higher or lower degree we are all guilty of, due to fears of being standing up making ourselves targets (enabling ).
The important thing to note here is that the extent of this is vast - not just found in the restaurant business.
I have never been the target of abuse in the restaurant business but I did see a young cook get bullied and intimidated when I was a waiter - and I was too young and too initimidated to react but I was disgusted.
However I experienced the same nastiness against me and others, when doing my PhD at The Swiss federal institute of technology - a horrible culture of abuse, power abuse, threats and bullying, by professors and by other employees.
I highly recommend this article - even though I am a man I can recognize so many of these things if not all:
https://www.chronicle.com/article/AbusersEnablers-in/241648
4
I have worked for over 35 years and continue to work in the hospitality industry. This article seems typical of the industry in its tone for sure. It's also a difficult, emotionally charged and risky business. The sexual harassment at the restaurants mentioned obviously is taken to levels that are beyond abusive to outright criminal. This is not unusual in the industry. The HR departments are a joke. They are hired by the owners and managers that are the abusers. It's a power business and the owners and managers have the power. I know people will say you can't say the entire industry is abusive. Maybe not. In more cases than not the HR department, if there is one are are an extension of the abusers. Sexual harassment courses are a way for the industry to say they are complying to some standard. Again a joke and a sham. The private restaurants such as the ones mentioned have no oversight or controls other than the health department and IRS. The owners are almost free to do whatever they want. Working for an abusive bullying boss is very hard. Especially when the behavior is backed up by other people in management like HR. The job has its rewards. It also has a very dark side and probably won't change until society decides enough is enough.
5
Will not stay at The Ace again until Bloomfield takes an eternal leave as well!
1
In addition to the abusers, I hope the lawsuits also target wealthy and willfully blind investors and board members of these closely held businesses, where investor friends were surely familiar with what was going on. And in the case of Weinstein, I hope Weinstein Company board member and Harvey's deep-pocketed pal Paul Tudor Jones is brought to account (one of his startups is called JUST capital, which improbably aims to identify companies that are ethical and doing good).
2
What is most disturbing is that this all geared around food service. That's it.
Making food and putting it on a plate. The self aggrandizement is astonishing.
Anyone who has ever worked in the restaurant industry, even for a day, knows how awful the back of the house is. It is so full of sexism, foul language and dysfunctional workers. I've seen psychotic chefs in action. It's surprising they're even allowed to use knives. A very unhealthy, toxic environment. Those in the dining room have no clue what's going on in the kitchen. It's scary.
4
Chef B. fielded TWO complaints against KF in THIRTEEN years...? As a former 6-figure-earning waitress, I have more regard for the man made accountable for his actions than the woman denying hers. For shame, Ms. B.
2
People trading their dignity for contact with fame and beauty. The stench of money and power. Worship of the body. Alcohol and drugs. No different than the sins of Moore and Trump. 2 sides of one coin. Praying to false gods. No kindness. No humility. How many people eat at the Spotted Pig for the food and how many for the atmosphere? The been there/done that of it all? Something to brag about at the office? Over coffee? Over drinks at the next Big Thing?
4
Time to get the pigs from their high horses. I do understand a good chef deserves a reasonable amount of applause, and I certainly appreciate perfect cooking. There were times I couldn't care less if my tab was $400 for 2 plates and some bread, but the pompous aura some chefs seem to demand these days are out of proportion. This story does it for me completely. I don't want to be caught dead in this place.
1
It seems that the NY Times is working its way across the full spectrum of male-female physical and non-physical contacts. I expect to soon start reading about busboys harassing waitresses at local diners.
As it is, both the NYTT and WaPo are devoting an ever-growing percent of their articles to harassment, misbehavior, improper conduct, or whatever they decide warrants those headline labels. Since 99% of the accusations are just that, with no criminal behavior, criminal complaints, or arrests, both papers have decided unilaterally to take on the role of prosecutor, judge and jury, and destroy reputations and careers simply by printing stories based on accusations, not truth based on legal evidence.
The stories sometimes call them "allegations," which is a term mostly used with reference to crimes. A person complaining to the press is not proof of anything.
As most of the recent stories note, rarely did the wannabe starlet, actresses, or business employees, file a complaint, quit their job, or even threaten to quit. As it is, the newspapers are inciting a firestorm of law suits with financial gains going to influx of new complainers, their attorneys, and the newspapers, whose tabloid headlines generate readers and ad volume.
Before publishing any harassment story, a paper needs to show that a formal and public criminal complaint was filed. It seems strange that suddenly our best journalists are spending most of their time digging for dirt about actors and politicians.
1
I worked as a personal assistant for an important restauranteur in Manhattan in the 90's. He did a lot of coke and was verbally abusive and incredibly foul mouthed and volitile. I stayed, as I got well-fed, was in school, and needed the job. After a particularly hideous episode of screaming at me for typing something in "lower case" instead of "upper case," I left a note on his desk, saying he could not treat me this way. He fired me as soon as he found my replacement. She lasted three weeks and left after he threw a plate of spaghetti at her head. Restaurant employees have always dealt with these maniacs in the restaurant industry. I hope this new awareness will lead to permanent change.
122
We have a president who abuses entire federal agencies, and Republicans just love him. As the top executive, he should be the model for improved labor relations that would apply to the restaurant industry. But he only shows that people of power in business exercise outsized, intimidating control over their employees.
It means that executives can hide their recalcitrant behavior behind celebrities and friends, and build elaborate PR machines. Enter Ken Friedman. There is no training for top executives; as Ken Friedman stated, his goal was to build a restaurant with a unique differentiator that pulled in savvy customers. There was no underlying characteristic that showed that he could motivate workers; his high turnover rate is a sad indication of poor personnel management, even though celebs flocked to him.
Not all management is recalcitrant; people want to work for the best, highly-motivated enterprises. But it looks like Ken Friedman could have gotten away with his mode of management if sexual molestation by leadership hadn't risen to the front pages.
Membership in unions has declined, and, as the wealth and power of executives has increased, workers have less of a voice in their jobs. So Ken Friedman is just another business owner who took advantage of workers' disempowerment.
As Rza Betts said:
“I was embarrassed, felt taken advantage of and emotionally manipulated.”
It's a horrible feeling.
12
This is not a challenge to the credibility of the women who fell harassed but why did she respond to the text at all. If she ignored it outright, would he stop? Or was she afraid of reprisal? Responding the way she did seems to beg the question: is it harassment or flirting?
To be clear, this is one instance and probably out of context. Besides, women (or men) who have been harassed are not trained to handle harassment so responding may be natural. Perhaps the important thing is to set the boundary right off the bat is more effective to give the counter party the misrepresentation that it is a game of chase, This is based on management science: if you are going to reject someone for a job position, while the applicant deserves a compassionate response, no leading him/her on that s/he has a chance is essential
2
My guess is that you're not a woman.
5
I have no doubt this harassment went on, and we all know that "power corrupts & absolute power corrupts absolutely".
We went down the wrong path by making something as basic as cooking and restaurants into this kind of celebrity culture.
BUT...the woman in the text messages was egging that man on. By the third of fourth time he demanded "nude selfies".....she should have hung up. When you get an obscene phone call, you don't engage the caller in a long conversation about how you don't like it, and won't he stop it. YOU HANG UP. Everyone should know this by now.
They should have each gotten out. Ah but the money, the celebrity atmosphere, the "prestige." Sometimes lower values prevail and self-respect is kicked to the side. But in today's world, retroactive justice is now possible. Best of both worlds, it seems.
7
Memo to self: Sell stocks. Market about to crash. NYC restaurant scene imploding. Owners fleeing to exits. Bad harbinger.
38
Ms. Bloomfield had, as a full partner, an obligation to
protect and defend her employees. Basic human decency
called for it, but also to protect your business from sexual
harassment suits and mortifying scandal. Their business is
finished.
154
Bloomfeld is as guilty as Friedman. Why isn’t she being investigated? She enabled a predator. She was an accomplice.
2
April B has a lot to answer for if this reporting is true. Someone at the NYT should please do a follow-up. There are a lot of women in the margins of these stories that, at the very least, abetted the men at the center of these crimes. There needs to be a separate accounting for this sort of passive -- or perhaps enabling? -- behavior. It is not the same as what the men were doing, but it is disturbing nonetheless.
131
This story makes Batali seem like a creampuff by comparison, and I actually read the linked Eater Blog article and was not terribly impressed by it. This guy here sounds like a monster with mental health as well as substance abuse issues, women’s bodies being one of those substances. There is definitely a need to differentiate at the #meToo level if it is going to gain any staying power and not just the national conversation flavor of the month.
49
Patrick, read the article again. Batali is no cream puff, even in comparison to Friedman. Sexual harassment is sexual harassment is sexual harassment.
3
Did you not read in this article about Batali's very creepy behavior: "Mr. Batali, who was drunk, was groping and kissing a woman who appeared to be unconscious." Or this: “We called him the Red Menace,” said Ms. Nelson, the former server. “He tried to touch my breasts and told me that they were beautiful. He wanted to wrestle. As I was serving drinks to his table, he told me I should sit on his friend’s face.” From what I've read here and elsewhere, Batali has a drinking problem, issues with degrading women with gropes and derogatory comments, and "mental" issues to behave this way. I wouldn't call him a creampuff.
7
My guess Law Firms have the same issues.
27
everyplace, every industry has these issues.
1
Oh, indeed they do. I had the "law firm" experience for 22 years. I'll never get over it for as long as I live. The anger, the threats, the come-ons, the almost sadistic HR Department. Being literally thrown out of my chair by my boss as I was typing. The insults, the way he would put me down in front of my own staff, his inability to control his rage, shaking his fists in my face, not inviting me to meetings. The partners could have cared less. As long as my boss was making them money, and keeping them happy. The woman in HR told me I had to stop making my boss so angry. The CAO, a woman, basically told me that nobody cared what happened to me. I was locked in an office once by an associate who then had his secretary come into his office and stand in front of the door with her arms crossed so that I couldn't get out. I broke down in tears. People next door to this guy could hear me crying. He came out of his chair and went at me, telling me if I didn't apologize to him, he would have me fired. My crime for this incident was that while he was on the phone, a senior partner peeked into the office and asked if I could come and quickly help him solve a problem (I was in IT). When I got back to the associate's office, he told me, "If I tell you to stand there, you stand there. If I tell you to go away, you go away. Do you understand?" I hope he's reading this. I really do.
What gets me the most about Friedman's behavior, although it's all quite bad, is the blackballing threat. It's one thing to create a miserable and abusive work environment but it's another to keep abusing, controlling and threatening people after they have left your employ. That's what sets this guy on a different plane from Tom Ashbrook, Al Franken and Garrison Keillor (unless that was the case with these guys too but I haven't read anything like that). Also the stalking predatory stuff is a more serious category in my book. We need to start defining these events, categorizing them in terms of their seriousness or damage.
106
I worked at the Spotted Pig for a couple years long ago, when a lot of this was happening. I witnessed it first hand. We all did. And then we would complain about but to each other afterwards, but that was all. It’s strange how only when you see it in print twelve years later does it actually seem real and the gravity of it truly sinks in. People were getting hurt, every day. I feel sick with shame. I never said anything or did anything about it.
212
Jon! Don't feel shame! We were all just disposable pons in April and Ken's abusive game. You were always a wonderful teammate and comrade! I cannot even begin to tell you how many of our old kitchen staff friends and FOH employees have reached out to all of us today. So many of them wanting to share their stories of terror and give thanks for finally speaking out about it. Such a great team! Couldn't have gotten through it without you!
11
Why didn’t this strike you as bad then? I’m curious as to how people get accustomed to accepting behavior like this.
1
That is a huge shame, you could have stopped this long ago. I feel for those women, "powerful" men do this in all industries all the time. My hope is this stops, but I know it is unlikely to ever end.
Maybe April’s comments were because she’s not right either. Chefs in the industry are not always the nicest people. She could be guilty of her own cruelty and is choosing to ignore it all because she is at fault too.
48
This is how the privileged respond to sexual abuse allegations. They take sabbaticals.
While many of us workaday folks prove day in and day out we treat coworkers with respect.
64
'Complicit' Is the word of the year In 2017, according to Dictionary.com.
From April Bloomfield to Ivanka Trump, women need to stop being complicit and step up as much as men do, stop this abhorrent behavior and stop looking the other way, even if it's uncomfortable for them.
The men perpetrating this sexual harassment and abuse are appalling, but the women looking the other way are also appalling.
124
agreed, but let's be consistent, no? we cannot list april and ivanka and stop there. hillary is also complicit.
1
Never ever work for a small business. My mother told me that 45 years ago and it was the best advice she ever gave me.
42
Family-run small businesses can be bad news as well.
So true. The one place I had trouble of this nature was a small business. Yep.
I agree. I did once, my uncle made me. Was so glad to be fired.
In 1966, before the term "sexual harassment" was coined, a manager told me, a dining room waitress at a well-known hotel, to meet him after work in one of the rooms if I wanted to keep my job. I didn't want it that bad. I left at the end of my shift and never looked back. I had another job in a day or two, but I was young and jobs in restaurants were plentiful. Outrageous sexual predation is not new. It is good to see the problem out in the daylight.
94
And in the same issue an article about the abuse Peter Martins heaped on his dancers. Soon we'll be hearing more about the fashion industry. This is the tip of the iceberg.
86
Just finished watching Wendy Whelan documentary on Netflix. Certainly felt something sinister about Peter Martins.
I wonder what it's really like On Wall St.!
I will not patronize any restaurant of that food group any longer. (I was not aware that the restaurants at the Ace hotel were affiliated so thank you I will avoid them). Ms. Bloomfield lack of support of her female staff and the lame excuse that she focused only on the menu is troubling as she is a co-owner. The title of her cookbook was after all: A Girl and her Pig. Mr. Friedman behavior beyond his sexual harassment pattern is close to sociopath (burst of temper, retaliation, blacklisting employees). Good riddance.
268
As a patron of any restaurant from now on I will make more efforts to watch the way the staff treats each other. Being a patron of any establishment that tolerates predatory behavior doesn't deserve my business.
62
I have quite a cookbook collection, and right now, sitting on the floor are a couple of cookbooks by John Besh. The other day I added a couple by Mario Batali and now it seems April’s have to go on the pile.
At the moment I am looking at them with distaste and am considering adding them to the end of the year Goodwill donations. I paid good money for these; bought them in good faith that the people writing them were as good and decent as some as their recipes.
Now I’m not sure I want them in my home. Now I’m not sure I could cook out of them without thinking about the abuse women suffered at the hands of these celebrity chefs, or the blind eyes turned by another.
At what point do you throw out the baby with the bath water?
And I wonder how many more cookbooks I’m going to be adding to that pile?
291
I have quite a cookbook collection, and right now, sitting on the floor are a couple of cookbooks by John Besh. The other day I added a couple by Mario Batali and now it seems April’s have to go on the pile. "
That is throwing out the baby with the bath water. Guilt by association. It is a book not a person and if it has recipes that are useful, keep it. Should we banish government just because drumpf is in the WH? Of course not. Soon he will be gone.
10
KL Kemp, I too have Mario Batali cookbooks and now want to get rid of them. I am also wondering how many more I'm going to add to that pile. I hope this is the beginning of the end of celebrity worship of any kind, but I don't bank on it.
8
Cut out the pages with the good recipes. Keep those. Recycle the rest of the book. Don't give it to Goodwill. If you find the chef toxic, it's likely that others will too, which might leave Goodwill stuck with books it can't sell.
6
I feel Amy Poehler also knew. I think anyone who witnessed what she witnessed would remember that kind of incident vividly. That's just so weird, extraordinarily out of touch, and shocking, the only way you wouldn't remember is that you've seen it happen so often you wouldn't remember specific incidents, there's too many.
The silence in the comments on her is disconcerting. I suppose being a woman and holding liberal views absolves one of any wrongdoing. I think the silence also says a lot about what's wrong with our culture.
What's wrong is wrong, regardless of who they are or what they believe. Everyone is equally accountable for their actions.
81
Huh? so now it's amy poehler's fault, and april's fault? How about putting the blame where it belongs - on the men who committed the assault/harrassment.
I can't believe all the people saying it's the women's fault that the men harrassed. Truly bizarre.
2
Seriously? While I don't doubt that this vile little pantomime took place, it was probably two seconds long. Leave Amy Poehler out of it.
3
df, seriously? A fleeting action by a creep and you want to blame a bystander who may not have even seen it? If Amy Poehler says she doesn't remember it, why don't you want to believe her? Aren't we supposed to believe women now? Come on.
46
Wow! this sounds like something I saw in Game of Thrones last year. Pig indeed!
10
Ms Bloomfield needs to take off the ear muffs and not stand behind carefully worded PR statements like “My energies are directed to the kitchen, food preparation and menu development,” and “In the two matters involving uninvited approaches that were brought to my attention over the years, I immediately referred both to our outside labor counsel and they were addressed internally,”. She "feels like" they let down employees? Of course they did, and the patrons who have supported their business. It sounds like a toxic environment. The remarks "That’s who he is. Get used to it. Or go work for someone else." show no backbone on her part in terms of standing up to her business partner on behalf of he workers. This restaurant group has always presented itself as being led by the pair of Mr Friedman and Ms Bloomfield, every single article mentions them as the leaders, and they both need to be held fully accountable for what happens in the restaurants.
220
Well he's got fame now.
15
I just looked up Pete Wells's most recent review of The Spotted Pig. He wasn't too impressed with the attitude of the servers--now we know why!
53
So how do people keep track of the line between "fun and sexualized camaraderie and predation?"
52
You have just unwittingly explained why this is a Pandora's Box that has been opened.
25
It is easy to keep track of that line. It is "fun and camaraderie" when a Democrat is in the White House, but shock and horror when there is a Republican there.
17
The difference is that good people stop the behavior when they hear no, please don't, this makes me uncomfortable. And good people don't threaten the jobs of the people who told them no.
31
So is that how you get Michelin stars these days, or just how you get Jay-Z to invest?
27
I'll bet productivity would go way up in America if everyone would just work and quit trying to sleep with the help.
117
We are not “the help,” we are people trying to make our way, just like you.
1
Tough situation for April...it is enough to have to focus on running the boh for the increasing stable of restaurants without babysitting your partner. As a group increases in size,there has to be management who takes care of these issues,and when the disease is at the top of the totem pole, it is doubly difficult to navigate. These guys brought something good to our dining scene,now it is time to...drain the swamp !
6
Tough situation for April? Women employees came to her for help, and a little female solidarity. She told them to basically go pound sand.
As a partner in the operation, she will discover her culpability, made worse by refusing to support employees who were abused.
She was perhaps the only person who could have stopped him. When the lawsuits pour in, she will have a really tough situation. She was aware of his predatory behavior and willfully turned a blind eye to it. She will be found as liable as he.
1
Nothing apparently has really changed with Ken, from when as the founder of the Deaf Club in San Francisco, I knew him as the manager of the Weirdos and a salesperson for an Interview type magazine. Back then in the late 1970s, he was lacking money and resources and used his considerable charm and intelligence to attain business and achieve personal goals. But now, (I've only followed his success in the media and haven't spoken directly with him) he has and uses wealth, prestige and power. Which, in this society, combines to contribute to social mobility; rewards stupidity, ignorance and as a consequence, permits serial abuse.
25
And the culpable walk...
“That’s who he is. Get used to it. Or go work for someone else.”
Opportunist April Bloomfield should be held equally accountable for financial damages and prosecuted accordingly.
No irony here huh? - she exploited pigs, hung out with human versions of them and wound up with one perhaps bringing down here entire twisted empire!
I love it! What comes around goes around.
67
She is in a partnership. When the lawsuits happen in slews, she will be a defendant. She will discover that saying “ I concentrated on the kitchen” is no cover for her culpability at all. She is a partner.
3
I am relieved that Rose Gray did not live to see this.
2
I saw this kind of behavior, and worse, quite often at a restaurant at worked at in Chelsea (8th ave. and 20th). The owner persistently harassed, groped and propositioned employees he found attractive, and made lewd sexual comments to women and men alike. Calling out and shaming one celebrity restauranteur will not be enough, not by a long shot. Unions and legal protections for workers, including enforceable laws against harassment, are required.
307
Unions,,legal protection, an official working wage and benefits.
17
Years ago, I worked as a Playboy Bunny at the NY club on 59th St. It was the safest, best job I ever had. We were unionized AFL/CIO Restaurant Workers' Union. If a man tried to touch us or harass us - out the door, membership cancelled, gone. It's ironic, I know, that being a Bunny should be a safe haven for women, but it was. The atmosphere had its issues like body shaming by our Bunny Mother who would send out weekly notes about "crinkly eyelids" and "hammock style" arm flesh, which was pretty bad and insulting but the overall feeling of being protected and valued was always there. Unionize! Keep creeps like Friedman and Bloomfield away from you.
8
Everyone is to blame here, including the VIPs who did nothing, and the waitresses themselves who tolerated it for years. Thats no excuse for the hideous behavior, but its the truth.
13
The waittreses and waiters should not be so easily blamed. They were in a position of extreme vulnerability and if you read the article those who complained were fired or further harrassed. Lets demand accountability from those that owe it. That is the truth
3
No. Everyone was not to blame. The perpetrator of the abuse was to blame. The servers who were treated this way are not to blame. They had, as we all have, the right to work in an environment free of sexual assault, verbal abuse, and threats of retaliation. Customers — and chefs— who were aware of it and did nothing were certainly complicit, but to say “everyone” is to blame is the same as saying no one is to blame.
4
And our society for fostering this culture and atmosphere? Is "blame" the desired goal?
Really - these are the end times: when two of my favorite food writers, the nicest, kindest people - as I imagine from just reading their articles - are "forced" to address the sexual misconduct in this way...
But it really is overdue. We need to mobilize everyone and really get to that clean slate, which is of course impassible because some "bad hombres" would still squeeze by, but the more we get to know - the more responsibility is extracted from the hardened and hardcore sexism - the better we will be.
And Julia and Kim will go back to fine articles on food and everything we love.
21
We are really looking forward to that. Thanks for your kind words.
10
Kudos to Kim and Julia for an excellent article on a difficult topic. But while I understand the desire to return to less political coverage in the food section, the topic of "food" has changed. The world that Kim and Julia describe in this article is indeed the food word of the 21st Century, and ethical issues (sexual assault, sexism, environmental impact, animal husbandry, labor laws) are central to the topic of food and dining in the 21st Century. It's now the beat. Instead of looking forward to a return to more innocent articles, I hope that the New York Times's authors and editors double down with searching, comprehensive coverage of difficult topics. Kim and Julia did a commendable job in this article, but the work isn't done--not by a long shot.
1
Oh the horror of it..HA~~Having worked doing fire suppression systems in restaurants for years . The after hour parties i have witnessed and at times lost hired help too when drugs and booze was offered would blow your mind.LOL.. Being bonded and not being on the payroll . Lots of drugs , Open Bar "YEP" and owners wondering why in mid-year "Where is my money going" Often when my Bill of services is due, My comment is "You knew what you were doing when selling your morals and integrity to some pimp with half sub-par food " Cry me a river and a groin kick well placed wakes up most any slime ball slop pitching Hack owner..
11
Boy, I hope your bills of service are easier to understand.
5
Brilliant innovative men and women can be very difficult to work with. They can be very high strung and ceaseless in their pursuit of possibly devotion or notoriety or to become famous. This holds true in many industries. The restaurant and medical sciences are very aggressive towards its wards. You either survive, or leave. Bloomflied said this is the way he is, either except it or leave. They should of left immediately. But because they were making gobs of non declarable cash here why slit the throats of the golden goose. The moral here is do not work for someone who's attitudes you do not like or find offensive at the very least. There are other jobs, really there are. Go find them.
14
So fundamentally mistaken. The current climate in the US shows that this abusive behavior is so pervasive that the solution is not to scape, but to hold accountable a system and individuals who allow harrasment and violation to go on.
1
Gordon, it sounds like you’re saying he’s not to blame because he’s “brilliant and innovative”, so people who work for him need to accept him the way he is. But his behavior is illegal, abusive, and wrong. People shouldn’t have to leave jobs they are qualified for because the manager behaves illegally. He is the one in the wrong here.
4
Ken Friedman sounds like a monster. It's a tragic shame that he was able to go this long without being punished. April Bloomfield is just as guilty for allowing this to persist. I hope these women sue the company and take it into bankruptcy. No matter how good the food, organizations like this should be destroyed.
69
Dear Ms. Bloomfield, as a longtime member of the hospitality community, I've heard several stories about the hostile work environment in your restaurants and I think you're definitely underestimating your role in this. It's not convenient but you should take a break in order to reflect, atone, grow.
232
Yuck. Many more to come unfortunately. What's particularly distressing in this instance is April Bloomfield's willfully turning a blind eye to her business partner's behavior, and telling employees 'that's who he (Friedman) is, deal with it.'
Business being business, I'm not certain much shade will be thrown at the golden goose, but make no mistake here: Bloomfield enabled Friedman, and shares culpability with him for allowing this culture of misogyny to fester in their establishment. As a hospitality industry professional, I am not shocked, but I've personally aways had zero tolerance for mistreatment of employees, regardless of gender, and while I am not a sanctimonious person, nor an especially moral one, sexual predation crosses the line. It's a violation that leaves the victim forever scarred, a kind of living murder in its worst iteration, forcible rape, with the real risk of permanent psychological trauma at its most innocuous, uninvited groping or unwanted touching, which are often the precursors to more serious transgressions.
Friedman's actions are disgusting and he should rightly be held to account. It's disappointing that his female partner, a high-powered industry figure in her own right, did not stand up to him. Not hard to figure out why she acted thusly, seeing as how it would likely unbutter her bread. Or in Ms. Bloomfield's case it might be more appropriate to say that once you've disemboweled the pig, it's hard to put the guts back in the carcass.
52
Thank you, ladies, for telling our stories. And thank you NY Times for doing this investigation.
76
Having worked in the food service for over 30 years, I’m not surprised, and also very glad, these stories are finally coming out. The people who own and run restaurants have for centuries treated their staff like chattel and objects to be used and abused. Now that chefs and restaurateurs have gained rock-star like status their behavior has been off the charts and needs to be controlled. No one working in any restaurant has escaped being subjected to or witnessing terrible behavior by managers or chefs, no one. They act like it’s their right to scream at you for the slightest offense, to belittle and heap scorn on someone they’re paying less than minimum wage. I’ve been away from it for nearly 5 years and haven’t missed a day of it, and as I watch some of these cooking shows(Top Chef, etc), I quickly pick out the people who I can see that meanness in and root against them. It’s all about them, and they never let you forget it.
252
Yes, these men not only think they can sexually assault you (part of your job description) but also scream at you, belittle you, throw ashtrays at you (my experience) and generally make your life a living hell. We should address the anger - rage, I should say - along with the sexual harassment. A lot of these men are very, very angry because they feel very, very entitled. Have you ever watched "Chef's Table?" Some interesting behavior on display, some of it pretty abhorrent.
5
I agree that Ms. Bloomfield clearly had a responsibility to stand up for her employees more than she did. But I cannot agree at all with the comments that she was as bad or worse than the actual harasser - or with the comment that specifically shames the women around him who let it go on, as though men weren’t enabling him too. All of these comments imply that this behavior is just to be expected from men and that women are the ones with the sole responsibility to stop it. Please let’s stop looking for the nearest woman to blame when a man’s bad behavior is exposed. He committed the bad acts. Many people enabled him, not just Ms. Bloomfield.
119
Sorry, but if a female employee goes to their female boss and reports that a male boss groped them and forced their face into their crotch, the correct response is not "suck it up, buttercup." April Bloomfield got put on the culinary map by The Spotted Pig and was a direct beneficiary of the situation described and tolerated here. She wasn't "taking the blame" for Friedman, she actively threw other women under the bus to keep her cash flow in the black.
95
Yes, but it's her restaurant--she's not just another employee!
28
Please see the comments blaming Amy Poehler and the servers themselves. I have no quarrel with saying she had responsibilities she did not meet, possibly legal ones as a partner in the business. But she’s not worse than the actual abuser.
12
Well, the link for the document doesn't work but I was able to save it as a JPEG and enlarge it. What a lukewarm, do-nothing response. I kind of expect this denial from Friedman, who was known as a pig for a long time, but I am bitterly disappointed by April Bloomfield. Her response is nothing short of enabling an da classic case of women in power stabbing women under them in the back. Too bad, I actually liked the food at the Spotted Pig and have some of her cookbooks. FWIW, I would cash out my 401(k) to see Friedman try any of this on Gabrielle Hamilton and/or her wife; I think I know what the "house special" at Prune would be that night (small at-bar portion for only 1, highest bidder gets em).
28
A question and a comment: Who were the guests who did catcalls and groping? They need to be outed and shamed. And it's time for Ms. Bloomfield to resign given that she was an enabler of Friedman's.
73
Donald and Ivanka?
1
For someone so willing to heap scorn on the NYC “elite” you sure enjoy reading the New York Times a lot.
Surely, Mr Holiday. Because no republican would be less than a gentleman, delicate and chivalrous -- like President Gropenfuhrer and Roy Grabsalot.
1
Appropriate that this pig owns a restaurant named the Spotted Pig. Of course we are partly at fault here for elevating these over hyped and over priced restaurants to a status that makes their owners and celebrity chefs actually believe they are somehow entitled to any and all forms of misbehavior. This story only reaffirms my decision years ago to not patronize these top tier restaurants. I can certainly afford the ridiculous tabs at these places but cannot stomach the stench of entitlement and privilege that is pervasive inside their walls. Cook at home or frequent the many unpretentious places found all over the city.
404
But JayZ is part owner!
THAT makes going obligatory - if you want street cred!
6
Peter, I also have stopped patronizing these celebrity chef restaurants where the food is no better than the many other great restaurants in this city, including those in Brooklyn and Queens where you don't have to hand over your entire wallet. And cooking at home is great, as well. Just made a delicious big pot of chicken soup with plenty to freeze for no-cooking nights.
1
A Spotted Buffoon.... I really wonder how the world will look like 10 years from now. At last Hollywood will produce uncorrupted good movies and restaurants will be serving perfectly cooked bunnies for a reasonable price. We all will have to fit in free straight jackets though.
3
In 2016, the James Beard Foundation named Mr. Friedman, known for his charisma and business acumen, its outstanding restaurateur of the year.
So much for the meaninglessness of awards in human terms. We may as we give them to monkeys as well, as they're probably more deserving in that regard.
83
What a sick place. I don't care how "tight and familial" the relationships were - sounds like they were too busy acting out to pay attention to basic issues like avoiding food poisoning.
21
I don’t trust restaurants where the chairs don’t have backs and the chef dictates what kind of cheese you can have on your burger. I went once and said, “never again.”
28
April Bloomfield is an accessory and an enabler. She should be treated as an accomplice.
251
Who new what and when is the real story.Getting celebs and the wall street crowd to talk will very difficult.
2
Maybe we could get a transition rule for restaurants, where this seems to be more or less universal?
1
Spotted Pig. Aptly named.
14
Ken is a talented, friendly guy. I'm sorry to see this article.
6
You're sorry to see the article (i.e that he's been unmasked) or you're sorry to discover that maybe he's not as nice as you thought?
28
He's not friendly to his employees.
3
Sorry to see that it was so tough to work for him
1
Sounds like a real nice guy.
3
What an insightfiul comment! Thanks for sharing your deep thoughts. Not. Most people are very complicated, and many people's experience with this guy bears out your sarcastic, well though out remark, for real.
1
Hey, sorry to raise your ire. I have worked with egomaniac chefs that like to yell at and abuse underlings. Sounds like that is this guy's MO. That doesn't sound nice to me. Maybe he's nice to some people- like his celebrity customer base and his mom.
Stop patronizing these establishments.
86
While the other complaints cited in the lede of this piece have attribution (eg, she said), the first incident, involving Natalie Seibel, does not. I presume the description of the incident is not a widely accepted fact. If it’s not, the lede’s first paragraph needs attribution, or so my journalism professors taught me.
Her account was corroborated by two eyewitnesses later in the article. As such I would imagine it is "widely accepted" as fact... so does not require attribution at the top.
7
Shame on the women who witnessed or to whom reports/appeals were made, and who did nothing. You are as culpable as Friedman and your reputations are as tarnished.
27
Shame on Amy Poehler and all others who let this pig (his restaurant is aptly named) get way with this behavour.
11
Of course men enabled Friedman. Does that have to be explicitly stated? #metoo got that 35 years ago.
2
ok but then mention the male enablers as well, thats it
That wasn’t much of a response from Bloomfield. Enablers should be on the chopping block too.
215
She is, they are. Drop off in business will be enormous. Staff is on it's way out. They will land somewhere else quickly. Possibly putting them out of business.
It will be difficult for me to eat at any of their restaurants again.
40
Won’t be difficult for me. Can’t afford to.
2
The struggle will be ginormous but I trust you can pull through.
1
“When he wasn’t coming on to us, he was screaming at us.”
Sounds a lot like being an educated woman in Trump's version of the United States.
185
PH, please, this treatment of women has been going on long long long before Trump. Looking to blame this issue on Trump is beyond pathetic, it is laughable.
1
Olivia, please, I am all too aware that women have been treated this way for a "long long long" time. Nowhere in my comment is Ken Friedman's behavior blamed on Trump. Do you really need to have this moment in our culture explained to you? I would find that laughable if it weren't such a sad symptom of the whole problem. Pathetic sounds about right.
1
Obviously most of the anger should be directed at Mr. Friedman. But shame on April Bloomfield for continuing to open restaurants with this man, full well knowing his reputation. I will never support anything either one of them does again.
349
One word Susan: Money.
That is the reason April Bloomfield still affiliates herself. That and pure unadulterated Greed.
25
Susan, it is not that Bloomfíeld knew his “reputation,” she knew for a fact what he was doing, refused to help employees who came to her for relief, advising them to go find another job if they objected.
Bloomfield will discover when the lawsuits flow that her status as a business psrtner will make her more than the word of the year, complicit. It will leave her with a nightmare of negligent legal culpability.
5
An aptly named eatery, by all appearances.
55
Looks like the real pig has been spotted.
563
I think there are two.
1
I don't know what's worse: Mr. Friedman's behavior, or Ms. Bloomfield's attitude toward his behavior.
680
Ms. Bloomfield is just as guilty. Reminds us of someone else.
7
You don’t know which behavior is worse? Let me give you a hint: it’s not the woman’s behavior.
4
Obviously his behavior was worse.
3
Ewww! What are the consequences for such a leech?
Hate to say the word, "boycott." But then those consequences affect all the hardworking employees front and back of the house. What to do?
Sad to say, there will be more to come in the food world.
27
Thanks for this article. Great journalism.
22
Link to response document broken/not working, please fix so we can actually read it.
2
incredible reporting. I had no idea of the pervasiveness of sexual harassment in the food industry; apparently I was naive
10
THANK YOU NY TIMES for this coverage! Soooo important that this industry confronts the horrible behavior its permitted for decades by those in charge.
58
Spotted Pig--how fitting!
He certainly isn't the last, just another name added to this infinity list of perpetrators, who take prey on people's vulnerabilities because of their positions.
Now, who's next?
5
I am so tired of hearing these "I-am-deeply-sorry-blah-blah-blah" apologies from the likes of men like Batali et al. No, you aren't. You are just deeply sorry you got caught. You are deeply sorry that you are now feeling embarrassed. You are deeply sorry that it may cost you profits.
These men — and anyone, celebrity or not, who is complicit in what they do — are revolting.
409
I think they are "deeply sorry" they got caught. April Bloomfield's role in all this is particularly disappointing, too - she is complicit in all of it.
19
Anyone who was a 3rd floor regular was aware and complicit. No way they were not.
There will now be many memory failures, and patrons facing direct accusations themselves.
2
Mr. Friedman is a mess-as he is described here by so many ex employees.-Unfortunately he is responsible for hundreds of employees who will now suffer because of his sick behavior.
This story had to be told-great reporting- How many more will fall????
13
Absolutely horrifying. Kudos to the NY Times for your work on this subject. Keep at it! I can imagine there are a lot of people out there wondering if they're next.
44
Oh Ken. I am so disappointed in you. You vile vindictive graceless man. You have also sullied April. She now has a lot of explaining to do.
43
April is complicit big-time. No excuse for dismissing employees' concerns.
5
Another reason to cook at home.
37
Spotted Pig - You've just lost 1 customer.
22
I've dined dozens of times at The Spotted Pig over the years and am saddened that as a patron I put one dime into this Neanderthal's pocket. I will no longer frequent any Ken Friedman establishment again. He should never be allowed anywhere near the restaurant business again and should suffer the same fate as the women who complained and were subsequently blackballed by him.
Clearly chef April Bloomfield turned a blind eye to all of this and put her own interests over the women who were subjected to this appalling behavior. Her shameful lack of spine is at least on par with Friedman's criminal behavior, if not worse in some respects. Show April the door as well.
763
She was bad but not worse...he is behaved like a monster every day.
10
I do believe that April should be held accountable but it is a bridge too far to say her behavior was worse than the man who perpetrated the crimes.
Would that be said if she were a man? No, I don't believe so.
21
What you wrote about chef April Bloomfield, that she "...put her own interests over the...." others is the mantra of America today it seems. The way the government is operating as a private tool of oligarchs, the dismantling of anything for the public, collective good, the amoral misuse of other human beings - women, men, children - the destruction of the environment, the disregard for our history and our future - all and more derive from a national sociopathy that cares not for others in any real way. This nation nearly elected a woman and her husband regardless of their own determined self-absorbed self-interest, that elected a very disturbed person regardless of his blatant sociopathology and boundless narcissism, wherein a state is about to elect someone who in past times would have been shunned and reviled, a nation that destroys and ruins and debases all that might make human lives, American lives, all lives better, that shuns traditionally held values and morals as "old-fashioned," "unenlightened." Where, by the way, is any public outrage over the "music" whose words debase and codify contempt for women, outrage for both the men who promote garbage and the women who are complicit in its "creation?"
6
Sadly, and ironically, an aptly named restaurant.
7
Wow. This jerk needs to go to rehab in every sense of the word. And to think that Al Franken was lumped in with Ken Friedman. Ken, I hope you are personally sued.
36
Rehab is just another excuse not to take responsibility for one's actions. No doubt he'll blame his mother or father for his problems.
12
I had no idea that "The Spotted Pig" was an eponymously named restaurant.
31
The Spotted Pig, indeed. Wow! And this guy is going to get off with a few apologies after making life miserable for so many people (mostly women) for decades? That strikes me as a rather hollow form of "justice". I hope that at least some of these women are able to pursue successful legal remedies. Unfortunately that will probably turn out to be too little, too late. Again, the Spotted Pig, indeed! Which only raises the question - whatever happened to Ivanka's "special place in Hell" for these types of people? That got forgotten quickly!
7
These stories should stick only to sexual harassment issues. That a workplace is toxic beyond that ("fueled by fear and fame") isn't relevant to what's against the law.
2
It is relevant because it creates the environment that allows the behavior to contonue and go largely unreported.
4
right! because mistreatment is only newsworthy when it's gender based
8
It’s part of the story. These incidents didn’t happen in isolation. They were part of a whole. They all rise and fall according to the restaurant’s success. The carrot and stick of the opportunity to make six figures and the threat of blacklisting helped this all happen.
16
I've hesitated to engage this conversation for a number of reasons. Let me loudly state that I believe the women who are coming forward. There are, however, a number of subsidiary issues that need to be addressed that I can't address in this forum. Nevertheless, I do not believe that a genuine reckoning of these issues will happen until we name Patriarchy as the root cause. While swift, and even long term, naming, shaming, firing, ostracizing should continue, the root cause must be addressed. The headlines are sensational because we or most of us know the names or some of the notoriety that has been associated with the industry or company or government entity. Good job, but it does not help the waitress, sale clerk, nanny or other low income/profile worker, who will continue to be victimized. And, as an African-American woman, neither the historical or current conditions of many of the sexual assaults, harassments, atrocities are particularized in these stories.
So, let's address Patriarchy, and the total control men have exerted over these behaviors and narratives; and, then begin a discussion of equality among all women, while not forgetting to exact appropriated measures of punishment to all offenders.
Lastly, this conversation will also include some women who have benefited from these behaviors AND some women who have been complicit in these behaviors.
347
Yup, and this story will also include countless women who perpetrated sexual assault on men believing their behavior to be what their victims “really” want. But I don’t get the feeling you have much interest in considering that. Which means that, by adding blind vitriol to your round of applause for the idea of rooting out and exacting “punishment” on anyone accused of sexual misconduct - without the right to a trial, without the right to a defense and based solely on the word of the accuser - you perfectly mirror one other person I can think of. He too is filled with anger and cries out for trial-by-media. Unfortunately, he is also the current part-time resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
3
I agree - and lascivious celebrity worship. For what? Who are these men, these people? What about the enablers like Ms. Bloomfield? Will that kind of behavior end once we get rid of the patriarchal, "I own the world," mentality, will women be safe? Will people learn to respect each other? It is beyond belief to me that men still feel they can take and own women's bodies, enjoy them like a "good meal" and then toss them, or, rather fire them. It's still going on, in both small and big restaurants. A friend who applied for a job just last week as a "guacamole girl," was told to "lower the top of her dress and raise the bottom," or she wouldn't have the job. If it were me, I would have stood my ground and called the police.
1
You have hit the nail on the head ... it's systemic patriarchy and women need to wake up to it as well.
1
Just another reason for not making celebrities of restaurateurs and chefs. All that attention goes to their heads and the results seem to include crude imperiousness and overpriced and precious food.
124
Umm... Actually I think that #me too movement is industry agnostic, as it should be. Bad behavior occurs in virtually every sector of Business, Education, and Government, as we are now bearing witness. And while I might agree that there are a lot of entitled, egotistical celebrity chefs and hospitality industry professionals who let fame make them into monsters, there are many more who run ethical establishments where this sort of behavior is not tolerated. But good grinding of the axe, nice paint job with the big brush. Seems as though you missed the point of the article quite thoroughly.
7
"hysteria" suggests that something has been exaggerated or overblown; as far as far as sexual harassment/assault in the workplace plays goes we;ve barely scratched the surface.
17
Looks like we're getting to the score-settling phase of the #MeToo hysteria.
5
This stuff has unquestionably been going on since the dawn of civilization, and particularly since women entered the workforce in a big way, and it should have been put to an end long ago. It's just so good that enough has come out that women now feel empowered to tell their stories. Little doubt that what we've seen so far is the tiny tip of the iceberg.
488
Back in the 70s I worked for a few months as a receptionist at a small investment bank. One day our office manager asked if I would be willing to attend a dinner party with important clients from the middle east. I said no and laughed it off. I was 19.
Honestly, I didn't feel abused. I knew exactly what she had in mind, and as long as no one was forcing me to do it, I was fine with it. So yes, it was common.
4
It was far worse in antiquity. Except for one thing. Prosecution for vengeance wasn't sponsored with state funding. Law and order protects many predators.
1
and it should have been put to an end long ago."
Never going to happen sad to say. If we could do this, we could get everybody to vote Democrat, we could every to buy old cheese, we could get everybody to quit smoking, quit watching tv, give up their iphones etc.
There simply is no way to stop what seems to have its roots in biology and the "need to reproduce". lobotomies for men perhaps or injections of estrogen for a prefontal castration.
Anytime a woman wears a revealing top, something is bound to "come up" with regard to that. People are simply fooling themselves into thinking this is going to change, and in the meantime ACCUSATIONS are ruining lives and careers. Yes, there are some creeps out there, but be careful not to tar and feature all men. It may be linked to a "male territorial imperative".