A shocking tale of food-service hazing/assaultive homoeroticism from The Arizona Republic:
Bryce Fitzpatrick was working at the Cheesecake Factory at Chandler Fashion Center when he was promoted from server to food expeditor, a step toward management. One day, while he was inside the produce walk-in to hunt down watercress, the door suddenly swung open. “About 10-plus cooks and dishwashers shut the lights out,” Fitzpatrick recalls. “A guy grabbed me from behind and made me put my butt on top of his genitals.” One cook grabbed Fitzpatrick’s right leg and held it up in the air. Another held his left leg. Two other men grabbed Fitzpatrick’s arms. “A cook would stand in the middle and rub his genitals into my genitals,” Fitzpatrick said. During his tenure at the restaurant, he suffered the attacks more than 20 times, he said. In interviews with The Arizona Republic, two other former employees of the restaurant chain described being similarly grabbed and held down by co-workers while men simulated sex with them….The former workers say they felt humiliated and intimidated by the “assaults;” one of them, Michael Wilson, equated the experience to “dry raping.”
Even creepier, alleged victims say Cheesecake Factory management knew about the non-insertive gang bangs:
Fitzpatrick, 23, said the practice of sexually charged hazing at the Cheesecake Factory in Chandler was widespread and that supervisors knew about the group assaults but did nothing to stop them. One manager walked in on one of the incidents but just laughed and walked out, Fitzpatrick alleges. When he asked the manager why he did nothing, the manager reportedly replied he didn’t want to become a victim himself, Fitzpatrick said.
The criminally horny kitchen staff has been fired and replaced, and the claims of widespread sexual harassment are now being handled by lawyers.
Thank you, Slog tipper Joe.
So do they gang-bang you if you don’t leave more than 15%?
The Cheesecake Factory better get ready for a whole new clientele.
20 times. wtf. wouldnt you quit, file a lawsuit, something.
Gives a whole new meaning to cheesecake pose.
The real crime is the lousy food.
Celebrate DIVERSHITTY
@4 blame sysco
Seriously im trying to imagine this and it just impossible. like, it’s too ridiculous to be true.
Oh please can I have a job there? I mean a job job. Ooh, and a job job job.
While appalling I’ve seen variations of this behavior in many different environments, usually performed on people coworkers wanted to quit. The use of the word “rape” to describe it is the most offensive thing about this story.
No comparison to really getting raped.
20 times? Wow, next time call the police after number three.
@8: “No comparison”? The only difference I see is no penetration was involved.
@9 no penetratrion = molestation, not rape.
he liked it.
@10: “Not the same word” does not mean “no comparison”.
Let’s imagine, for a second, that the victims in question had been female. If that had been the case, these folks would all be staring at considerably lengthy prison sentences for what they did. What they did falls squarely under the definition of sexual assault, and these idiots deserve a lot more than getting fired. Honestly, they’re lucky that their victims decided to lawyer up, rather than return to their workplace with a shotgun.
“Don’t! Stop!”
Cheesecake Factory is a big chain. I’m shocked they don’t have a more stringent policy toward harassment. He told supervisors and they laughed? Who do they think they are? Bailed out bankers asking for their million dollar bonuses? This is a warning to all you would-be abusers at Cheesecake Factory: stop after 18 times.
uh people? call the cops after 1 time! what the hell is wrong with you?