I love local business. I love food. And while I am a vegetarian, I was always a huge fan of Dat Dog. I was there when it was just a small stand on Freret Street, and I witnessed it morph into the beautiful, quirky restaurant we know today. I was excited to hear about the opening of a second location on Magazine Street. I love hearing stories of small business success, which is why when a woman, “Abby” approached me with a story about her experience working there I almost didn’t want to hear it. Almost.
The revitalization of Freret Street has been met with some resistance. In an effort to bring in new business and bring down crime rates the once primarily black community has become more and more marginalized, losing time old traditions such as its second line. While lowering crime and bringing in business can be great, it is important to do so while still maintaining the culture of the community that was there before rather than trying to whitewash an entire neighborhood.
Dat Dog is a prime example. I have gone there, with many of my rich uptown Tulane friends. In fact, I frequent much of Freret Street with these same groups of people. Considering that it is located in a largely black community it is startling to see how few African Americans are employed at many of these businesses.
This was one of the issues my source, a former employee of Dat Dog, brought up to one of her managers. She asked him why there were no minorities working there, despite the fact that the store is located in a primarily black neighborhood. The response she received to her inquiries?
“We need people who can read and write…”
I guess, at least he was honest…?
This alone unsettled me, but the story gets worse.
My source told me that in April, shortly after Dat Dog moved to its new, larger location they hired a new manager. Lets call him “John”. John quickly became known for making sexual comments and sexual gestures to the majority of the female staff. Finally Abby and one of her fellow employees, “Jane”, had enough, and they complained- to no avail. After their complaints John began targeting his sexual harassment towards Jane specifically. The harassment got progressively worse for Jane, from vaguely creepy comments to him looking her up and down saying, “You look like you wanna go home with someone tonight…“. She complained twice more and was repeatedly told by her superiors simply not talk to him, to avoid him. Although Jane did as she was told he would still harass her. She’d continued to go to her superiors reporting the new offenses, and they would just shake their heads and tell her he was a moron. It was, as Abby states “insane.”
Once again, here is an example of putting the pressure on the victim, of making it their responsibility not to get sexually harassed. This is what patriarchy looks like in everyday life.
A third girl, “Emily”, who had been facing extreme sexual harassment by John eventually approached them. She told them that she had been too afraid to come forward, that she had no idea he was harassing others at work as well. John had invited her to a pool party under the pretense that it was a work party and that everyone from Dat Dog would be attending. Long story short, they weren’t. Emily went to the party to find that it was just she, John, and a few of his male friends. Emily told them that he hit on her repeatedly, that he smacked her ass, and that when she finally called him out on it- telling him that sexual harassment is not O.K.- he simply told her that no one was around to witness it so there was nothing that she could do.
Eventually, around September, John was fired, but according to my source it was basically like chopping off one head and replacing it with two more. In late September, two new men who were just as bad if not worse replaced John. One of the men made a comment to a fellow female employee one night at the end of her shift that he was “thinking about her in ways that would make her husband unhappy.”
Eventually more employees started to complain about the sexual harassment that they were facing at work, but according to my coworker nearly 40 of them either quit or were fired for “lack of morale”. The woman I spoke with said it took a lot for her to finally quit, but what finally pushed her over the edge was when one of the managers made a mistake on the computer when he was adding up the profits for the day. They came up short and he took it from the employee’s wages. This finally gave her momentum to put in her notice and leave this organization that I once thought of as inspiring.
Sadly, for Abby this wasn’t the end of the story. She was unemployed for months. She couldn’t pay any of her bills or her rent. Abby did originally file for unemployment and after an initial letter stating she would be granted the unemployment, she received a second letter stating that her claim had been contested by a previous employer alleging that she had lied about the circumstances under which she left her job. Abby told me that fighting the claim while being unemployed and having no money would have been nearly impossible. She and her fellow ex-Dat Dog employees thought about suing, they thought about filing with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), but they were so drained from fighting management and not being heard that they decided they just wanted to move on with their lives- something that Abby says she is still trying to do.
This kind of blatant racism, sexism, and harassment is what makes it so difficult for women to succeed and advance in the work place. We are told to get thicker skin, to toughen up, but when your livelihood is at stake, when your wages are being garnished, and no one is listening to what you have to say it can feel more than hopeless. This shouldn’t be allowed to happen. Women shouldn’t be afraid to go to work. They shouldn’t have to choose between working in a hostile environment or face months of unemployment. When people suggest that we live in a “post-racial” era, or that sexism doesn’t exist, they should really take a closer look at the everyday goings on at the businesses they spend their time and money at.
Sadly, the service industry is rampant with racism, and sexism. I don’t think that it needs to be however. As brave as these young women were for voicing their concerns, and leaving this establishment, the power for change lies in the money. It is unlikely that these common practices will ever change solely from the efforts of those who work in the service industry, its takes people on the outside exposing this behavior to make a difference.
Remember, every time you make a purchase you are casting a vote. For me, until I learn that Dat Dog has severely revamped their managing practices I know I wont be casting my vote for them any time soon. I urge you to do the same.
white woman writes article about “racism and sexual harrassment” at dat dog. one mention of racial comment. a thousand words on the violation and terribleness of the plight of these young white women. not saying it isn’t terrible if they are being harrassed in this way, just pointing out that yet again the white female experience overshadows the black male/female experience to draw outrage. *yawn*
I don’t believe the females’ races were mentioned. But just so we’re clear, two of the women harassed were not white, you moron.
I only have one problem with this blog entry — and it’s got nothing to do with racism or sexual harassment. Writing a blog and publishing it for the entire world to see makes you accountable. And you have to understand that and accept it. Hiding behind the “this is a personal blog” doesn’t get you off the hook. You published it. On the internet. It’s now public information. And it will never ever go away. Ever. That makes it an “article.” That makes it “journalism.” On top of that, you’ve urged readers to stop patronizing the establishment. I’m sure you didn’t mean to cause harm. You were simply voicing a concern for your friend. Voicing your opinion. Opening up dialogue or whatever….I get that. But, now it’s out there. And you’ve clearly upset a lot of people. For your sake, I sincerely hope you have facts to back up these accusations. Otherwise, you may have unintentionally found yourself in a libel suit.
As advances in technology progress at an alarming rate, we underestimate the power of the proverbial “pen,” often hiding behind our little screens, thinking that if no one can see us, then what we type or post isn’t going to be very loud. (I’m just a little ole blogger…) But, as you’ve recently found out, oftentimes, we’re louder than we realize. I wish you the best of luck.
HERE HERE!
Whether or not you intended this to simply be a personal blog, your published thoughts are making an effect on the New Orleans community. You are accountable for the quotes posted by “Dat Dog” and can be subject to libel accusations in return.
That former manager was fired for sexual harassment as soon as the female workers came forward. What he did is wrong and is inexcusable, but his faults were his own and not Dat Dog’s. As a woman in the service industry, I know that when I am treated inappropriately, it is my right to file a complaint. If nothing happens, then I am fully capable of finding another job. As far as I’m concerned, nothing was done at Dat Dog in lieu of sexual harassment sooner because none of the employees filed a complaint. You cannot make a blog about strong women if these women you post about hesitated to stand up for themselves. Rather, it would be better to focus on the importance of standing up to unfair work environments, despite fear.
Secondly, you obviously haven’t been to Dat Dog often if you think there are no African Americans working there. In fact, one of the most iconic Dat Dog employees is a black woman who insists on wearing a hot dog hat. Before writing this blog-post, you should have paid a visit to the restaurant and re-evaluated your conception that Dat Dog exhibits blatant racism.
If you want to write about your Freret street escapades with your “rich uptown Tulane friends,” that’s fine. Do not, however, make public (the internet is indeed public, sweetheart) accusations against businesses. No less, do not publish quotes and facts about a company’s behavior if you have not properly ascertained that the information is valid. You come across as over-emotional (using bold text on dramatic quotes you have no valid sources on), unprofessional, racist (since when is second lining a primarily African American tradition?) and dim-witted.
Ladies, if you are being wronged, stand up for yourself immediately.
No offense, but those girls DID stand up for themselves. Several times. Nothing was done until the employees as a unit threaten to ALL quit. So your point is a little misinformed, itself.
I’m not sure dating someone who works at Dat Dog is a valid enough source to say these things never happened. And frankly, I find it disrespectful.
I fail to see where I asserted that “these things never happened.” In fact, I point out the wrongness of the former manager’s behavior and thereby admit to things happening. If you are addressing my note of “hesitation” in the female employee’s reaction to the abuse, it is because I myself told a manager of Dat Dog about what I had overheard female employees say; he had no idea this was taking place. Shortly after this event, the staff held a meeting with the owners and remedied the situation. If a manager was unaware of something so obviously unethical, there must have been a disconnection between the victims and the higher staff.
Instead of complaining about one man’s perversions in the name of an entire company, we focus on how to better fix such injustice in the future. It is a convoluted and emotional problem, but poorly-researched, accusatory blog posts are nowhere near viable. Rather, we should encourage women on how to better handle such seemingly convoluted situations in the future.
Someone close to me (I will call her Susan) lost a job at a big chain restaurant because of sexual harrassment. She refused multiple unwanted advances from the manager. She was then fired, when she made a mistake with her receipts — for only a couple of dollars the first time she supposedly made a mistake. Susan did make a complaint to the company. There was an investigation, the complaint was found valid, the manager was fired, and Susan was offered a new position at another one of the chain’s restaurants. Susan did refuse the positon, because her career was beginning to take off, and so she chose to leave ther restaurant industry. Susan is now a business owner who employs others. I would be intersted to hear what DAT DOG has to say, but this story is consistant with stories from other female friends have experienced who have been sexually harassed in the workplace. I also want to add that comments casting doubt on a woman’s background is the kind of thinking that perpetuates the problem of workplace sexual harrassment and discrimination.
To those who dismiss this out of hand: it’s insulting to pretend harassment doesn’t exist. The specifics around this one establishment are in dispute, but these are real problems that I have witnessed more than once over my 30 years in the workforce.
I can say with some authority that some females at Dat Dog are treated very well–if they’re pigs, cows, alligators, or even codfish. (I was unable to get any of them to comment).
Yikes, not sure why people are trying to add insult to injury. A girl says, “I was harassed” and our first thought is, “pics or it didn’t happen.” I know that sometimes people make false claims, but geez, have a little more tact and try to be a bit more respectful.
That’s really sad…besides their food is kinda crappy, definitely won’t be going back to these ‘Hot Doug’s’ wannabes