INGRID DOULTON | Lady Writer | Contact
As yet another Sydney hospitality group is hit with damning allegations highlighting a toxic culture of misogyny and excessive drug use amongst staff and patrons, everyone other than women who have worked behind a bar before have been left feeling shocked and disappointed to hear that their favourite venues might be run by dickheads.
Just like parliament the year before and the film industry in 2017, it appears that hospitality is finally having a bit of a me too movement, which comes as no surprise given the industry is entirely fuelled by drugs and alcohol, and underpaid workers who have easy access to both.
Though Swillhouse Group and Merivale have taken the brunt of these allegations, given the sheer size and scope of these businesses, it simply highlights a systemic problem in hospitality that has existed since the dawn of time – that the industry has always been rife with loser male bartenders filling the void left by organised crime in Sydney’s nightlife, and suburban Blink 182 fans who now make the most of a power imbalance that never existed when gangsters were sitting in parked Lamborghini’s outside the venues.
Oh, and cocaine. Lots of cocaine.
Whether it be handsy patrons or predatory kitchen staff, women who’ve worked in hospitality can attest that there’s always been an unspoken agreement to ‘cop it on the chin’
It’s unknown whether the exposes will have any lasting effects on the industry, but given how much journalists and media types love a free drink or meal, it’s likely that the coverage won’t last very long.
More to come.
