Ken Friedman - Accusations of Sexual Misconduct

[TrelayneNYC]

On 12/11/2017 at 3:02 PM, Al Dente said:

More shameful behavior:

"Mario Batali Steps Aside from His Restaurants Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations" by Laurel Wamsley on npr.org

Ken Friedman is next.

"Natalie Saibel, a longtime server at the Spotted Pig, a West Village restaurant with celebrity investors, didn’t quit in 2015 after the owner, Ken Friedman, ran his hands over her buttocks and then her groin in a room crowded with customers, joking that he was searching her pockets for a forbidden cellphone.

"Amy Dee Richardson, a bar manager there, didn’t quit in 2004, when she says Mr. Friedman bit her on the waist as he bent down to duck under the bar. Neither did Trish Nelson, a longtime server who said he grabbed her head and pulled it toward his crotch in front of Amy Poehler in 2007 as Ms. Nelson knelt to collect glasses from a low shelf.

"But one night in 2012, Mr. Friedman pushed Ms. Nelson too far, she said: He invited her into his car to smoke marijuana and almost immediately lunged forward and pushed his tongue into her mouth."

"Ken Friedman, Power Restaurateur, Is Accused of Sexual Harassment" by Julia Moskin and Kim Severson on nytimes.com

[Simul Parikh]

On 12/12/2017 at 4:22 PM, TrelayneNYC said:

"Ken Friedman, Power Restaurateur, Is Accused of Sexual Harassment" by Julia Moskin and Kim Severson on nytimes.com

This one is especially bad. The details in the story are horrific.

[SilverBullitt]

47 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

The solution isn't exclusively to change the male-as-predator makeup; it's also to get women in positions of power.

I would add to your sentence, "[power] who are willing to do something."

In the NYT article, April Bloomfield, a woman in a position of power relative to Mr. Friedman, allegedly knew of some incidents but did not do all that she could have done.  Similarly, VIP customer Amy Poehler supposedly witnessed harassment but did nothing. 

[Simul Parikh]

April Bloomfield's response.

It shouldn't be so hard to do something about this kind of stuff, but I guess it is. When your business is succeeding, you don't want to rock the boat, I can see an owner/manager saying "If you don't like it, go work somewhere else." It's also hard being in that part of victimized group - i.e. - if in the past a black college kid was treated poorly by a white professor, are the other black kids going to speak out and perhaps put themselves in jeopardy? I guess April Bloomfield didn't do her part, but the MEN who saw what was happening should have spoken out. 

[DonRocks]

Jonathan are you out there? I'd love your take on this.

One problem is that the whole #MeToo movement lacks central organization, and as a result, random trees are being felled, when most of the forest is diseased. It's like getting a DUI - a majority of people have driven drunk in their lifetimes (I don't need to cite surveys or studies; I'm certain this is true); but only a small percentage have gotten DUIs, and the ones who haven't have simply been lucky.

I don't need to see 1,000 more anecdotes to know that a substantial percentage - perhaps even a majority - of males in positions of power have committed inappropriate sexual acts during the course of their careers. 

My guess is that the mere threat of being outed by #MeToo is going to be a substantial deterrent going forward, just like the thought of getting a DUI has greatly reduced the number of impaired drivers.