ABC investigation into hospitality horror stories
An ABC investigation into Australia’s hospitality industry has uncovered details of exploitation, rape, drug use and bullying.
The expose has paid particular attention to Merivale, which has been accused of fostering a harmful atmosphere that puts women at risk, condones substance abuse, and mishandles allegations of sexual misconduct.
The Justin Hemmes-owned group, which denies all allegations, is accused by former staff of fomenting a culture of exploitation in which female staff were not allowed to say no to customers. One former staff member alleges a colleague raped her but was then rostered to continue working with him.
The former employee has accused the company of mishandling her allegations of sexual assault. The woman, who remains anonymous for privacy reasons, claims she was drugged and raped by her coworker at a party in 2018.
After reporting the incident to Merivale management, she was allegedly told there was nothing they could do without a police report. Despite her discomfort with the idea, she eventually filed a report but later decided against pursuing it.
The woman alleges that Merivale not only failed to provide adequate support but also continued to roster her on shifts with her alleged attacker. "I was crying a lot, and I was just in a bad way," she said.
Another says she was criticised for reporting an assault by two men while on shift.
"They were allowed to stay, and I still had to serve them," she told the ABC.
The former staff member also told the ABC drug use was allowed and at times encouraged while working at the Hemmesphere bar in central Sydney.
A Merivale spokesperson told the ABC: "We have no record of the incidents that you have described. We are therefore unable to respond to what we consider to be unfair questions."
An alleged incident at the Merivale-owned Ivy nightclub in Sydney's CBD has seen a police investigation launched despite CCTV vision showing no ‘untoward or inappropriate behaviour’. The incident involves two women who allege to have been put in a position where they were mistaken for sex workers.
Merivale patron Jess Helinski told the ABC that after being separated from her group, she was offered help by a Merivale staff member and was seated next to a man who asked if she was a sex worker.
"We explained to him that we had lost our two friends and he said to follow him, and he would assist us in finding them," Jess told the ABC.
The Merivale employee took the two women into a lift, instead of up the public staircase.
"The lifts opened up into a back-of-house area … at that point, alarm bells were kind of going for me," she said.
The girls were taken to a VIP area that costs between $880 and $1,320 and includes a dedicated host and bottle service. When the staff member left, one of the male patrons leant over and asked, ‘So, when did you get into this industry?’
"So, I said, What industry? And then he said to me, 'The sex industry — the man you were just with told us that you're sex workers and you're going to spend the night with us.'"
The man was apologetic, but said the girls had to leave as they would not be safe in that situation.
Jess told the ABC, "I felt like that staff member had just picked us out from a group and decided that he was going to put us in this really vulnerable situation and had no respect for the consequences that we would have dealt with if this had gone wrong."
Merivale gave the ABC footage to look at.
In response the group stated the video was "plainly inconsistent with the allegations that form your questions".
"Your assertion to the contrary is disingenuous."
The women were shocked by how Merivale handled their complaint.
Merivale is not the only hospitality group under siege.
Nine Entertainment has reported allegations against the hospitality group Swillhouse, including retaliation against female staff who reported sexual assault, a culture that promotes drug use and sexual misconduct, and discrimination against women.
The full ABC investigation can be found here.
Jonathan Jackson, 4th September 2024
