Brighton SolFed started a public campaign against Brighton restaurant, Mange
Tout, on Sunday 6th February. We had been contacted by three former workers, whohad all experienced and/or witnessed various forms of sexual harassment from botha colleague and an owner. After raising the issue with management, one worker wasunfairly dismissed and the other two faced constructive dismissal, with the workenvironment becoming so uncomfortable they did not feel safe returning. ---- Weare supporting all three former workers together in a direct action campaign tocollectively demand Mange Tout address their failings, implement meaningfulchanges and compensate the workers for the financial losses and emotional damagesthey have incurred.Their demand list is as follows:Implementing Anti-Harassment training (#OvertoYou Scheme of the Survivor'sNetwork provides training)Implementing a formal Grievance Procedure at Mange ToutAddressing the toxic culture within the workplaceProviding financial compensationWhile it is important for the affected workers to receive compensation forpersonal losses and damages, the three workers are conscious that the workculture needs to drastically change for the sake of any future employees. This iswhy they have taken a transformative justice approach in demanding steps thatwill hopefully begin real, structural change at the establishment.Mange Tout were given two weeks to respond to our initial letter, but have notyet engaged meaningfully or made satisfactory steps to resolve the issue. Theyhave rather been deflecting blame by claiming that the perpetrator is no longeremployed there and there has been a police investigation. This is not the fulltruth, the complaint was raised about more than one person and there are stillperpetrators at Mange Tout. The issue goes deeper than just one individual andinvolves multiple cases of harassment as well as unfair dismissal and theattempts by management to cover this up.We began our public dispute this week by picketing the restaurant, handing outleaflets and holding signs to inform the public about what happened. The publicreaction was overwhelmingly supportive, and we succeeded in turning away the vastmajority of their customers during the hour we were outside. As we were leaving,we were approached by two police officers who took issue with some language on asign (‘"I'll go touch my willy" is never okay to say'), deeming it offensive. Wefind these comments (made by a colleague) deeply offensive too, which is why weare publicising them!Since the picket, SolFed has been contacted by an independent HR consultant,inviting only one of the workers to what they have described as a "grievanceinvestigation". The Mange Tout management's strategy seems to be to act as ifthey didn't fire this worker for raising a grievance. Despite the former workerrejecting this as inadequate and too late, the HR consultant has said that thehearing will take place whether they are present or not. Their sole engagementwith the issues raised so far has been to impose a meaningless process on aformer employee that feels more like disciplinary than a grievance.It is anattempt to individualise the dispute and isolate the workers, through onlyacknowledging one of their complaints. This is a performative gesture - MangeTout are attempting to squirm out of responsibility now that this dispute ispublic to avoid any accountability. This issue is a collective one, and the threeaffected workers will not be isolated and divided.Sexual harassment is especially prevalent in the hospitality industry, but alltoo often goes unacknowledged or dismissed as simply "part of the job". This kindof sex discrimination is however completely unacceptable and illegal under theEquality Act 2010. With the mean average employment tribunal award in 2019/20being £17,420 for sex discrimination and £10,812 for unfair dismissal, we knowthat our demands are more than reasonable(https://www.morton-fraser.com/insights/employment-tribunal-award-statistics).With this dispute now in the public eye, we hope to set a precedent thatsurvivors of harassment will not be silenced, and that the businessesperpetuating this culture face real, material consequences. Until Mange Toutmeaningfully engage with us to remedy these issues, we will continue this publiccampaign.http://www.brightonsolfed.org.uk/brighton/brighton-solfed-supports-workers-in-sexual-harassment-dispute-against-mange-tout_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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