Contributed photo by Andrew Cohoon - Celebrity chef John Besh has presided over a culture of sexual harassment that has flourished at his roughly dozen restaurants, according to a report at nola.com.
Two days after a newspaper investigation revealed allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment at the Besh Restaurant Group, chef John Besh has stepped down from the company he created.
In a letter to restaurant company staff obtained by the Advocate, company executive Shannon White announced that Besh “has decided to step down from all aspects of operations and to provide his full focus on this family.”
White announced in the same letter that she has assumed the role of chief executive officer.
A spokesperson for the restaurant group confirmed that the letter was accurate. He could not comment on what Besh intends to do with his ownership stake in the company or if the name Besh Restaurant Group would change.
The move came in response to an exposé from NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune writer Brett Anderson documenting allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment from the top down at Besh Restaurant Group.
That story, posted Saturday, shared accounts from current or former female employees at Besh Restaurant Group describing a culture of sexual harassment.
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The report cited two women who had filed complaints with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, while a number of others said they had quit over an allegedly hostile work environment. One revelation from the story was that the company, with some 1,200 employees and a dozen restaurants, only recently created a human resources department.
In her letter to staff Monday, White outlined a number of steps the company is taking around sexual harassment issues.
The company has hired an outside expert to “independently investigate whether any unreported claims exist.” It also is creating an employee advisory committee which will “reflect the full diversity of our team members.”
The company’s sexual harassment policy and code of conduct are being revised, and a new employee assistance program is being developed to offer services to staff, including counseling and a confidential hotline for employees to report concerns, White wrote.
She also noted that a new employee training program that includes “our ramped-up efforts in sexual harassment training” began last week.
“Our goal is to earn your trust and for you to know that we take all concerns seriously,” White wrote.
Swift changes
White started in the company as a server at the CBD Italian restaurant Domenica before moving into management roles. This week's change puts a woman at the helm of one of New Orleans' most prominent restaurant companies, at a time when it has been rocked by reports of sexual misconduct by male leaders and staff.
The reports documented in the NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune story range from complaints of a hostile work environment to specific allegations against Besh and his business partner, Octavio Mantilla.
One of the women told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune that she had a sexual relationship with Besh that she described as coercive. In the EEOC complaint described in the article, the woman — who is not named in the piece and declined to be interviewed — said she had accompanied Besh on a work trip to Los Angeles in 2015, and she said Besh had encouraged her to drink heavily at an event there. Afterward, she said, he came to her hotel room and engaged in oral sex with the woman, who described herself as “barely conscious” at the time.
Besh, 49, who is married, acknowledged the relationship with the woman in a prepared statement but described it as consensual. He said in a statement that he regretted his actions and said he was trying to repair his marriage.
He also denied turning a blind eye to or encouraging a culture of harassment at his company. But the company conceded some missteps, including a lack of clear complaint procedures for aggrieved employees.
Besh, a native of Slidell, is a Marine Corps combat veteran and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. He built a name for himself early in his culinary career on the north shore. In 1999, while chef at (the now-defunct) Artesia restaurant in Abita Springs he was named one of the country’s best new chefs by Food & Wine Magazine.
In 2001, he opened Restaurant August as a high-end CBD dining destination. His first expansion came in 2003 when he developed Besh Steak through a partnership with Harrah’s New Orleans Casino.
When Hurricane Katrina hit, Besh had already bought out his original investor at Restaurant August and had formed the Besh Restaurant Group with Mantilla. As New Orleans rebuilt from Katrina, Besh’s company grew rapidly and emerged as a leader in the city’s resurgent restaurant scene. Besh published cookbooks and became a familiar face on cable network food shows.
Besh Restaurant Group grew to a dozen restaurants and began expanding outside of New Orleans, with restaurants in Baltimore, Maryland and Nashville, Tennessee.
Even before Besh's move to step down was announced today, the sexual harassment allegations have brought other swift changes. On Monday, Harrah’s New Orleans Casino confirmed it had cut ties with Besh and plans to rename its Besh Steakhouse, which remains open.
One of the Besh group's former star chefs, Alon Shaya, left the company in September, and Shaya now says he was fired for speaking to a reporter about harassment allegations. Shaya, the chef, has said he hopes to buy Shaya Restaurant from his former partners. He has filed a federal trademark request for the name; the Besh group, meanwhile, has filed a lawsuit seeking to protect its own use of that name.
Source: theadvocate
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