Sexual Harassment Stories and Experiences

Meg, Massachusetts

     I worked in a restaurant chain for 6 1/2 years. I made a complaint to a manager about my direct boss, about things that were being said and porn in the work area.  Nothing was done. I made another complaint about my boss to a g.m..  Again, nothing was done.

     I got a lawyer and filed a complaint with the the corporation. They removed me from the shifts that I shared with my boss and said that they would pay me the tips that I would make–but they only paid charge tips, not cash tips. Then, they began an investigation, interviewing the other employees which took about 4 weeks.  Many of the employees told me that they told them the truth, that they saw and heard the same things as I did.

     Then my attorney was informed that they had a plan that I was to receive my shifts back and that this person would be moved to another restaurant.  Another few weeks went by, still no word from corp., so my attorney placed a demand in writing to them.

     Finally, I returned to to work and was immediately confronted by the manager saying that a customer had just complained about me, that I was rude to them that I was yelling and screaming.  None of this was true.  

     The manager took me into a closed part of the restaurant were no one else was.  He pointed and screamed “Who do you think you are!? Do you think your untouchable?!”  He was yelling, pointing, and spitting as he lunged towards me. I went backwards under the bar to get away from him for fear that I was going to be attacked.  He kept on screaming, “I’ve worked for this company for 30 years who do you think is going to win this!?”  I got my coat and my purse and he ran out of the room and came right back with another manager saying, “See, you are my witness!  She’s leaving! She ’s leaving! She’s walking out because she got a complaint from a customer!” 

     I said as I ran out the door, “No I’m leaving because this is very unhealthy and you are screaming at me.”

     They talked to my attorney and fired me because I had walked out.  It has now been 3 months and I have not been able to get another job in this or any other town.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 26th, 2007 at 1:27 am and is filed under Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, Retaliation, Backlash, and Victim-blaming, Formal Investigations and Litigation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.