The reckoning of Portland’s service industry continues with @86dlistpdx, where more than 70 businesses have been accused of fostering hostile workplaces
On July 7, Instagram account @86dlistpdx appeared and began exposing allegations of abuse, harassment and mistreatment in Portland’s restaurant industry. More than a month later, the account has shared claims against more than 70 restaurants, restaurant groups and a few other local companies, amassing over 12,000 followers in the process.
@86dlistpdx, a platform for Portland service industry workers to anonymously share their “experiences of abuse and racism,” according to their Instagram bio, has already lambasted a host of local foodie scene mainstays. Many have been the subject of multiple accusations of abuse and mistreatment, including lauded establishments such as Ava Gene’s, Kachka, the Independent Restaurant Concepts group (or IRC, which operates Paddy’s, Produce Row, North 45, Circa 33 and others), Q Restaurant & Bar, Departure, Taqueria Nueve and Salt & Straw.
The account, inspired by the Chicago Instagram account @86dlist, is, according to a July 9 post, “a group of Portland service industry folx who are sick and tired of the abuse and bullshit we have all experienced and continue to endure.”
“We have always felt the need to expose our industry,” @86dlistpdx administrators said in an email to Street Roots. The account’s administrators agreed to correspond with Street Roots on the condition of anonymity. “These posts are what we workers talk about after our shifts. Now the public gets to see what goes on behind their $200 outing and how workers are actually treated.”
The notion that restaurant culture can be abusive rings true to Molly Behnke. She has worked in Portland fine dining as a line cook and prep cook for five years and now operates The Skinny Chef PDX.
“I’ve definitely experienced my fair share of sexual harassment and disappointment coming from the leadership side of things,” she told Street Roots. Once, she said, she was given a stress ball to deal with misconduct and verbal abuse from a chef.
Behnke said on one hand, @86dlistpdx is kicking an industry while it’s already suffering from an economic death spiral, and now workers are worried to see more restaurants close permanently.
“There's just less and less jobs, there’s less and less places to eat, there’s less and less places to work. As a cook, you don’t have a lot of capital and a lot of funding saved up, so it really affects a lot of people financially and a lot of my friends financially,” she said. “And in another way, it’s been a really positive note because I think that people didn’t really have anywhere they could go to and anywhere they could speak out. And, the account has kind
of, it’s kind of had its ups and downs, but at least having one kind of outlet where people feel like they can share their stories is better than nothing, because this has obviously been long overdue.”
The Instagram account comes on the heels of what Portland Monthly called “5 days that shook the Portland food world” in a July 7 headline. Starting July 1, Maya Lovelace, Portland chef and owner of restaurants Yonder and Mae, offered her Instagram account as a platform for restaurant industry workers to share their experiences anonymously.
What followed was hundreds of allegations posted to Lovelace’s Instagram stories detailing abuses from sexual assault to wage theft – as well as backlash against Lovelace for her own treatment of colleagues and employees. Just five days later, she removed the posts, writing that the platform she created “has grown exponentially out of my control.”
Some chefs and owners, including a few also accused of wrongdoings on @86dlistpdx, responded to the claims on Lovelace’s account, releasing apologies or statements promising to do better, or questioning validity in the absence of fast-checking or vetting.
According to @86dlistpdx administrators, they are unaware of any responses or statements from any of the people accused of mistreatment on their page, however Street Roots found several responses, including from Lovelace herself, below a post accusing her of verbal abuse. She replied, “Expecting restaurant owners, who are human and therefore flawed, to be perfect is a huge part of this problem.”
The same day a post accusing Taqueria Nueve owner Brent Richford of racism was published to the @86dlistpdx account, a statement was released on the restaurant’s Facebook page, in which Richford acknowledged the employee’s feelings and apologized.
“I will be reaching out to leaders of the community, organizers working for change, and other restaurant owners to try to have a socially distanced meeting where we can all have a conversation about equality and inclusion. Please stay tuned,” Richford wrote.
Street Roots reached out to the owners of several businesses on the @86dlistpdx page, but none responded to our inquiries.
“Maya Lovelace did what she could and we recognize that she used her voice and platform to start the conversation,” @86dlistpdx administrators said. “Ultimately, it ONLY became about her and the prominent chefs she called out. Eater and PDX Monthly only focused on the big names. We the workers who actually came forward were left in the dust. Where’s the follow up with the sexual assault by Ryan Fox? Or the abuses by Doug Adams? Ava Gene’s? They are in the same club as Gregory (Gourdet) and Maya.
“We were forced to read them in a sympathetic light and focus on their pain instead of us the workers who actually went through these abuses.”
The account @86dlistpdx appears to pick up where Lovelace left off, but as an anonymous collective of current and former service industry workers who say they have no affiliation with chefs or owners.
Claims range from sexual assault and harassment, to wage theft, to verbal abuse, to racist and misogynist treatment. Some of the claims call out owners and chefs as direct perpetrators of the abuse and mistreatment, while others explain how owners and managers enabled this behavior among their staff by ignoring it.
The experiences shared on this account reflect issues in the restaurant industry as a whole. Workplace culture has long been the subject of headlines regarding the restaurant industry, from misogyny to pay inequality to the high-anxiety atmosphere that breeds mental health struggles.
A 2014 report from Restaurant Opportunities Center United found that 90% of women and 70% of men in the restaurant industry have experienced a form of sexual harassment while in the workplace. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, restaurant workers file more sexual harassment claims than employees in any other industry in the country.
According to @86dlistpdx administrators, the account is a path to accountability for chefs and owners, a guide for workers and customers to know where to avoid, as well as a healing process for workers who now have a dedicated place to publicly share their trauma.
“John Gorham, Katy Millard, Gregory Gourdet, Maya Lovelace, Ben Jacobsen, Doug Adams, Greg and Gabi Denton amongst others ... Portland’s ‘Top Chefs,’” @86dlistpdx administrators said. “They have all been posted. They have yet to acknowledge or do anything about what has been shared.
“We stand with the survivors who have been brave enough to come forward. We want to see recognition. We want these chefs to be held accountable and face the fact that they have been problematic and damaging to a lot of workers.”
Many commenters on the account support or corroborate the claims, while others refute them. Many other commenters argue that posting unvetted accusations causes unfair harm to small businesses that are already struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.
The way Behnke sees it, no one wants to get the restaurants shut down.
“It’s more about self reflection on the leadership side of things,” she said. “It’s definitely the time for it, it’s definitely the year for it. And treat your employees better.”
She said speaking up is scary for most people in an industry where workers are conditioned to understand that verbal abuse and sexual harassment is “just how it is.”
“COVID shattered an already fragile system,” @86dlistpdx administrators said. “We believe in rebuilding a new system how we see fit. Small businesses don’t get a pass because they’re a local shop, terrible owners are still terrible no matter how big their operation is. We the workers are sharing so we know who to avoid in work or as a customer. The industry status quo as we knew it is over. They need us more than we need them and it’s about time they realize it.”
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