A Surprisingly Simple Yet Successful Recipe Against Sexual Harassment

The worst job I ever had was the afternoon waitressing gig during my student days at a café near the University in Munich. No matter what I was wearing (long jeans in summer!) or how politely I was behaving, men thought me serving them coffee and cake was an invitation to serve them something else. At a student café! In plain daytime! I only lasted two weeks.

The restaurant industry is rife with sexual harassment: Nearly 80 percent of female staff and 49 percent of male staff report having experienced sexual harassment at work from clients, chefs, and co-workers, according to the Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United. Yet none of the existing training programs for general harassment situations, such as bystander training, has been shown to make much of a difference.

So I was delighted to report on the surprisingly simple yet successful method of a chef in Oakland, CA, to stop harassment at her restaurant. Erin Wade, the owner of Homeroom, was initially shocked when she learned about the extent of harassment at her restaurant. "We're a family restaurant!" she exclaimed when her waitresses and waiters told her that family fathers were the most frequent offenders. Together with her staff, she not only diversified all levels of management, but she implemented a color-coded system that put an end to the worst kind of harassment.

When a staff member has a harassment problem, they report the color — "I have an orange at table five" — and the manager is required to take a specific action, no questions asked. Since Homeroom implemented the system three years ago, the most egregious harassment has ceased to be a problem.

Since Wade, a lawyer by training and a feminist at heart, wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post, she has been inundated with requests to offer training. She also hopes it could become a blueprint for other companies:

"It's not enough to oust men who behave badly. We also need to elevate women — not as victims, but as revolutionaries."