Street Roots • Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 2017
News
HARASSMENT, from page 4
and assault are locally.
Of the men interviewed, the consensus was
the issue existed but that it was mostly
consensual among co-workers and was worse
for women, especially from guest to co-worker.
One man, though - a veteran downtown
bartender told Street Roots he has been
repeatedly stalked by female patrons, as well as
harassed by a male patron.
But the women have it way worse,” he said.
On busy nights, I’ve seen guys reach up and
try to grab them as they’re bending over and
things like th at It’s awful.”
Of the women interviewed for this article,
here are a few of their many stories. Due to
the nature of their accounts, Street Roots
agreed to anonymity.
One woman said she was asked to perform a
sex act on her male manager in order to retain
her job at a popular downtown tavern.
Another woman was terminated for refusing
service to a patron who was repeatedly verbally
abusive to her, often calling her a “c*nt”
Another bar worker said her male manager
coaxed her onto the roof after closing and then
made sexual advances toward her. She bolted
and was later met with a barrage of
inappropriate text messages.
Another woman said a male patron at the
bar where she worked “shoved his fingers up
my skirt and into my underwear and then ran
off.”
Another reported an intoxicated male patron
was sitting on her car when she left work,
prompting her to go back inside to retrieve
other employees to escort her out
None of these experiences would be
included in any retrievable statistic because
none of these women filed a harassment or
assault complaint to law enforcement. If the
incident were reported to management, an
incident report and investigation would likely
occur, the results of which would remain
confidential within the company.
In the event of a reference check, companies
are reluctant to ask much more than basic
information like dates, titles and salaries and
whether the person is eligible for rehire.
“Some employers may limit the amount of
information they give out of caution and fear of
defamation suits,” said Charlie Burr, BOLI’s
communications director. “It’s an individual
choice by the employer, not a legal mandate.”
Kelly Vaughn, a manager and bartender in
Northeast Portland and a survivor of sexual
assault, said, “It’s defihitely a problem I’ve
seen in the industry - cases where managers
get terminated and then go get hired
somewhere else and repeat the same practices.
There’s just no way to track it, unfortunately,
because managers Have to adopt a legal
approach. It’s a gray area, very tricky.”
Coming forward
Some high-profile cases of women and girls'
coming forward have captured headlines
Recently.
In October, six women filed a class-action
lawsuit against the owners of Italian restaurant
Nonna Emilia in the Southwest Portland
suburb of Aloha, accusing them of sexual
harassment and abuse. A comprehensive
investigation by BOLI found substantial
evidence regarding the allegations that kitchen
manager Justin Ceccanti otherwise aided,
abetted, incited, compelled and/or Coerced
unlawful em ploym ent practices.
In BQLI documents ob ta in e d by S tre e t
Roots, the allegations included:
■ One woman, who was pregnant at the
Page 5
time, alleged that Ceccanti demanded to walk
her to her car, where he assaulted her.
■ Another woman claimed Ceccanti “would
regularly call female members of the staff
profane names such as ‘stupid bitch,’ and made
other harassing and threatening statements.”
■ Another said Ceccanti provided her and
her co-worker with alcohol and pressured them
both to engage in sexual conduct; at one point,
she said, one of the women was
unconscious.
In a separate case, two
teenagers sued Stars Cabaret in
July, with the help of Oregon
Labor Commissioner Brad
If you believe that you¡ h a w
Avakian and BOLI, on charges
been illegally discriminated
of “unlawful sexual harassment - against on the basis of a
of minors.” The girls, including
protected class or protected
one who was prostituted to
activity, contact the Bureau
customers when she was 13,
of Labor and Industries’ Civil
recently went in front of a judge
Rights Division a t 971-673-
for closing arguments in the
0764 or crdemail@boli.state.
civil rights case. One of the
or.us. The BOLI website,
girls came forward a year after
www,oregon.gov/boli, in
the events took place when she
cludes a Sexual Harassment
confided in a counselor. That
one confession catapulted
Q&A, detailed Information
events that would end up
with regard to the complaint
causing Stars to go bankrupt,
process, and more.
lose its liquor license and send
three men to prison for .
compelling prostitution, first-degree sex abuse
and second-degree rape, among other charges.
It is common practice to question a victim’s
trustworthiness when it comes to sexual
harassment and assault. Look no further than
public reaction to sexual assault allegations
Report
discrimination
ag a in st c e le b ritie s an d p o litician s su c h a s Bill
C o s b y an d D o n a ld T r u m p .- r
ln th e c a se a g a in s t S ta rs C a b aret, .in spiteLftil
PHO TO BY ELIZABETH BUÉLO W
assault and harassment.
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