According to Dye, Nolintha was at the restaurant that night, and Dye immediately reported the employee’s behavior to him. The manager with whom he was supposed to lodge this complaint was dating that very employee.
“I kept giving him the benefit of the doubt and thinking I was complicit. You don’t get shifts. The allegations that became public over the first week of June describe a “toxic” company culture that encouraged employees’ emotional vulnerability and created a family-like atmosphere, then took advantage of that trust.
[…] I'm truly sorry for the pain I have caused.”It’s currently unclear what the path forward is for the company. My name is Vanvisa Nolintha, and I’m one of the co-owners at Brewery Bhavana and Bida Manda Laotian Restaurant in Raleigh. The overall hospitality and brewing industries, too, are asking how such conditions could exist in a company that touted its community focus and its inclusive atmosphere. Really disappointing.They’ve also shut down their Cellar Door membership program permanently (without fulfilling their obligations). All the "best new restaurants" and stuff they got and all for this.Former employees say Bida Manda’s general manager, Kate Shields, made a racist statement in February to her subordinate employee, who is Black, by addressing him as her 'slave.' It is bullshit.They make some of the best beer in the state, but I won't be supporting them anymore unless they handle this well. Petty arguments. The post states the two “failed to protect our staff.” The incident in question was when Shields, a former manager, called a Black employee, her subordinate, a slave. “This is about a commitment to helping our team reclaim the vision and spirit of what Bhavana is and was and all they’ve worked to achieve.”Nolintha provided a statement via email that read: “I wholeheartedly believe both restaurants will continue to contribute to this community. (The Nolinthas are immigrants from Laos whose cultural background has been at the center of the menu and story of Brewery Bhavana and Bida Manda.) In conversations with GBH, former employees unanimously agreed that other managers ignored complaints about Nolintha. He was very transparent about it, saying, ‘I don't know how to handle this. “When all of those people are much closer and have more contact with Van, there’s no way they didn’t know,” says Sara Dye, who managed the bookstore located within and owned by Brewery Bhavana from February-December 2018. He told them that if they complained about him publicly, he’d lose his job and not be able to support his child.
On June 9, the company launched a third-party investigation led by an employment attorney. Getting rid of Hester and the brother is great but I can't imagine they didn't hire and retain people who supported/indulged in this toxic workspace.Giving me huge flashbacks to my most recent gig where company parties were a place for the VP's to prey upon the kids they hired, but the pay is too good to quit. Former employees say Bida Manda’s general manager, Kate Shields, made a racist statement in February to her subordinate employee, who is Black, by addressing him as her 'slave.' Best thing about covid was getting laid off from there!Good that Van stepped down. Our lunch menu is available 11:30-2:00, with a light dim sum menu available from 2:00-5:00. The beer was very good, the space is really cool and the food was wonderful. I’m not an HR person.’ I was like, exactly, that’s what we need—an HR person.” Alex describes an informal employee newsletter regularly sent out by one of the head servers at Bida Manda to other staff. Sweep problems under the rug.
“I am lucky that I was only sexually harassed and wasn’t sexually assaulted.” Alex alleges Hester made frequent sexual comments about her body while she was working, and invited her on a trip to the Tales of the Cocktail industry event in New Orleans. Named one of Bon Appétit’s 10 Best New Restaurants in the country in 2017, Brewery Bhavana was considered a role model for diversity, inclusion, and community-building within the beer industry. Just a few months ago, Alex says the newsletter had a small cartoon captioned: “Everyone say hi to our new HR representative,” below a picture of an empty chair and desk.
When Dye next spoke to Nolintha, she says she expressed her frustration and mentioned the experience was triggering for her, as she’d been assaulted and raped in the past.“I really stressed to Van: We need an HR person,” Dye says.
)In my experience, companies that want to foster a 'family' environment usually mean exactly that. While the host, Dye, and the employee waited for his Uber to arrive, Dye says the employee twice grabbed her breast and buttocks and tried to kiss her, despite her telling him no and pushing his hand away. Even when employees did bring concerns about Hester to Nolintha and other managers, he wasn’t reprimanded. “It was like, ‘He’s an immigrant; he’s trying.’ That’s what a lot of it felt like.” Because it was unclear whether all of his family knew about his sexuality, Alex says, staff was reluctant to out him by reporting complaints publicly. Was looking forward to going back until I read all this.
She declined.“He told me I should go because if we shared a bed, I’d be able to throw him off before he sleeps with me,” she says.
In the wake of the allegations, Vanvisa Nolintha and Patrick Woodson, a co-owner of Brewery Bhavana, released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying … Just the news that interests us. The move comes after several former employees say Nolintha sexually abused and harassed them, and ignored misconduct by other managers. A few days later, Edwards says Nolintha sent him a text message containing a photo of the two characters about to have sex with a caption that read “What happens at Ocean Isle lol.” Edwards responded to some of the texts, in one case identifying which character he hoped to be in the scenario.
Former employees began to publicly share their stories on May 31, when Brewery Bhavana On June 5, Bida Manda’s owners, brother and sister Vansana and Vanvisa Nolintha, posted a statement to Instagram—since deleted—acknowledging a “racist incident” in early February.