John Besh restaurants fostered culture of sexual harassment, 25 women say

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http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2017/10/john_besh_restaurants_fostered.html
John Besh restaurants fostered culture of sexual harassment, 25 women say
Posted October 21, 2017 at 01:16 PM | Updated October 21, 2017 at 09:24 PM
By Brett Anderson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Madie Robison said she was done with the uninvited touching from a male colleague, the comments about her physical appearance and the repeated requests by her famous boss to discuss his sex life.

That boss was celebrity chef John Besh, co-owner of Besh Restaurant Group, where Robison was hired as a graphic designer after graduating from Loyola University at 22. She resigned in February after just over two years on the job, alternately confused, angered and traumatized by a corporate culture where sexual harassment flourished – at least in her telling, though not in her telling alone.

During an eight-month investigation, 25 current and former Besh Group employees told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune that they were victims of sexual harassment while working at BRG or at a number of its restaurants.

Nine women agreed to have their names published in this story, including Robison and two female colleagues who left BRG the same week she did: Vy Linh Ky, who held jobs in BRG restaurants as well as its corporate office beginning in 2012; and Lindsey Reynolds, the company's social media manager for six months.