一个investigationby the newspaper Times-Picayune has revealed allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment at the Besh Restaurant Group (BRG), formerly headed by celebrity chef and New Orleans restaurateur John Besh. During an eight-month investigation, 25 current and former female employees claimed to have experienced sexual harassment while working at a number of BRG restaurants, with Besh being accused of engaging in a “long-term unwelcome sexual relationship” with a young employee.
Besh has since stepped down from all BRG operations, with long-term employee Shannon White taking up the Chief Executive Officer position. “John has decided to step down from all aspects of operations and to provide his full focus on his family,” White said in a书面声明，这也揭示了公司的性骚扰政策正在更新。已经采取了进一步的措施来解决这些索赔，包括独立调查，成立员工咨询委员会以及“加强性骚扰培训中的努力”。
从那以后有几个厨师公开评论on the allegations made against Besh and the culture of harassment in the restaurant industry.
“I don’t know the facts of the case or anything with the Besh company, but the fact that it’s a company this size and that there was not a credible avenue, no trustworthy credible office or institution in this big company for women to report or to complain with any confidence that their complaints would be addressed, this is, it’s an indictment of the system,” celebrity chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain告诉板岩。
名人厨师何塞·安德烈斯（JoséAndrés）强调需要改变餐厅文化的需求推特。“Need to make sure [the] restaurant industry is actively leading the way. Respect, dignity, [and] humanity is non-negotiable.”
The allegations against Besh come at a time when more women have been speaking out about sexual harassment within the restaurant industry. Recent sexual harassment lawsuits have been filed against other prominent chefs, including科里·李andJulian Medina。芝加哥公共厨师Anker总经理Antonio Molina的公共厨师Cosmo Goss和Antonio Molina是最近被解雇由于未经允许，在员工中分发了一名女雇员的不适当照片，因此未能采取纪律处分。
根据一项研究通过工人倡导集团餐厅机会中心联合（ROC），餐厅行业促进了“性环境”，对大多数女性雇员产生负面影响。该研究报告说，有80％的女性餐厅员工经历了同事的在职骚扰，有66％的女性受到主管的高水平骚扰。这个问题还扩展到男性雇员，大约50％的男性雇员报告说，他们“经历了某种形式的性骚扰”。
另一个报告哈特研究协会（Hart Research Associates）专门针对快餐业，揭示了40％的妇女在工作中经历了“不必要的性行为”，其中28％的人报告了“多次骚扰事件”。根据报告，“骚扰往往通过官方渠道报道，许多妇女试图自己解决这种情况。”
The restaurant industry is the单一最大的来源妇女向美国平等就业机会委员会提起的性骚扰指控。根据ROC的报告，通常用于解决工作场所性骚扰的基于投诉的模型失败了。决策者，雇主，餐馆工作人员和客户必须共同努力解决和拆除该行业的骚扰文化，并建立更安全，更健康的工作场所。
