Operators' training focuses on ending harassment

Santa Monica, Calif. Servers Shannon and Wade are no longer dating, and when fellow employee Allison asks Shannon about the relationship as they prepare to open the restaurant, the two women laugh as Shannon describes Wade's shortcomings. Gossip spreads like wildfire, and by closing, co work Patrick and Joe are teasing Wade about not being man enough for Shannon. Is that a hostile work environment? Is it harassment? Yes, said Monica Ballard, president of Parallax Education, a Santa Monica, Calif. based human resources firm that develops harassment prevention training materials for employers.

The "Shades of Harassment" video depicts scenes showing different forms of harassment and discrimination in foodservice settings.

Any behavior that is unwanted and unwelcome can be viewed as harassment or as creating a hostile work environment for an employee, said Ballard, who has been an expert trial witness in more than 100 harassment cases. Wade is the victim in the first scenario presented in "Shades of Harassment," a video and training program Parallax produced with funding from Burger King Corp. and In N Out Burger. The program depicts a variety of scenes drawn from real life examples of harassment or discrimination cases. The cases not only are racial or sexual in nature but also involve age, disability and sexual orientation. The entire video is shot with actors in restaurant dining rooms and kitchens. Workbooks and classroom discussion topics accompany the video. More than two dozen restaurant companies looking to better educate their staffs on what constitutes harassment are using "Shades of Harassment" since Parallax rolled it out last summer. Ballard said clients include Buffets Inc., California Pizza Kitchen, Denny's Inc. Cheesecake Factory Inc., Pacific Coast Restaurants Inc. Eat'n Park Restaurants, Friendly Ice Cream Corp., Steak n Shake Co., Carrols Corp. and IHOP Corp. The program is gaining popularity among operators because of its realistic portrayal of problems that could occur in restaurants. The scenes in the video are not like the egregious, sexual assault or class action racial discrimination cases that grab headlines. The situations are more subtle an employee giving gag gifts to a co work who turns 50, a manager telling a female server a joke about premenstrual syndrome, a server making fun of another server with a disability. "This provides us with some real life examples that happen in restaurants," said Angie Hoskins, director of classroom training for Egan, Minn. based Buffets. "This is especially helpful, as it addresses the employees' thoughts and feelings and then provides a solution for the managers. We use it to drive home the message that harassment will not be tolerated." California Pizza Kitchen recently incorporated "Shades of Harassment" into its management program because of its all encompassing look at harassment prevention, said Julie Carruthers, senior vice president of human resources. "This shows how off the cuff remarks people make, how they can be not only hurtful but discriminatory and harassing," Carruthers said. "I think it's a real eye opener for some people." Parallax, which serves other industries, did its first restaurant oriented training program on sexual harassment six years ago with funding from Sizzler, Jack in the Box and CKE Restaurants Inc. "When we started, we ordered every sexual harassment video in the country," Ballard said. "They were all so goofy, so horrible. They made men look like complete idiots. It was a turnoff; they were turning off half the audience." Most videos also were set in office environments, which foodservice workers could not relate to, she said. "When we show it to a group of regional managers, they'll see a scene and they gasp, 'Oh, my God, that's what our servers say,' " Ballard said.