Sydney hospitality group Swillhouse is facing allegations of discrimination and harassment from a number of former staff members.
The Sydney Morning Herald published a two-part investigation last week that detailed concerning allegations made by five women, who say they were sexually assaulted and harassed by fellow colleagues during their time working at Swillhouse venues.
The women allege they were subsequently pushed out of the company after reporting the assaults to Swillhouse’s management team.
Alongside the alleged sexual assault and discrimination, the list of allegations made against Swillhouse include: sexualisation of female patrons, encouraged use of alcohol and drugs on shift, and a culture of encouraging staff to have sex with patrons on shift.
Two of the five women who participated in the investigation have since come forward and identified themselves.
Rachelle “Rocky” Hair was the first female bartender employed by Swillhouse, a role which she said made her “the canary in the coal mine”.
“If [Swillhouse] had learnt and changed 10 years ago and the assaults and harassment had stopped with me, I would have let this go,” Hair told SMH.
Jenna Hemsworth also identified herself as an alleged victim of sexual assault while working at Swillhouse.
“My choice to remain anonymous until now has been to allow the article to place the onus on the culture that allowed this to happen, not on me as the victim,” she told SMH.
“I can sleep well at night knowing I’ve done all that I can to make this industry a little bit safer than it was when I entered it. Can you [Swillhouse]? I hope you learn. And I hope you grow. And I hope to God this signals the beginning of the end of this cycle of abuse,” Hemsworth said.
With hospitality awards season looming, industry reactions to the reports were swift. Gourmet Traveller removed Restaurant Hubert from its annual digital restaurant guide and the Australian Bartender Awards pulled Swillhouse venues from its list of finalists.
Swillhouse Chief Executive Anton Forte has since stepped down from his role on the board of the newly formed Australia Restaurant and Café Association. He was not alleged to be involved in the misconduct.
The group published an apology on Instagram addressing the “distressing claims” on Thursday night.
“We sincerely apologise to anyone who has felt hurt, unsafe, unprotected, triggered, or unheard,” the post read.
“We particularly extend this apology to our female staff, guests, friends, and family. We acknowledge that Swillhouse was not always perfect and that we got things wrong in the past. We sincerely regret that any of our former staff have felt let down or unsafe.”
The post also announced that Swillfest will be cancelled and ticket holders would be refunded. Comments for the post have been turned off.
SafeWork NSW is currently investigating the allegations.
If you or someone you know if impacted by domestic, family or sexual violence, you can contact 1800RESPECT or the NSW Sexual Violence Helpline on 1800 424 017. Both services are available for free 24/7.
Laura Box
