Former Karen’s Diner workers who launched action against the franchise due to alleged sexual and physical harassment say they fear their claims will be dismissed now that the business has gone under.
Late last month, Karen’s Diner announced via Instagram that three of its pop-up restaurants were closing.
ASIC documents have since confirmed that liquidators were appointed to wind up Viral Ventures (Australia) Pty Ltd trading as Karen’s Diner and Broadway Diner.
Kali Arumugam, who is one of three ex-Karen’s Diner employees to take action against the business, told the ABC she was “not very confident” her claims will go anywhere.
“Every interaction we’ve had with them post-employment has been met with dismissal or hostility,” she said.
“There’s really little to no faith that things will change moving forward, and I guess the only positive that I’m sitting with right now is that at least no more employees in Australia have to deal with them.”
Last November, Arumugam alleged she had to put up with customers calling her racial slurs and sexually harassing her.
“These incidents have ranged from my personal image, like insults about my physical appearance, body shaming, racial slurs and sexual harassment and physical assault,” she told the ABC.
“I had a group of young men physically threaten me, and once they left, they waited outside the front of the venue for me for about an hour or so.
“There were incidents where we had to call the police and get people removed … and they just were never really taken seriously by management.”
It’s absolutely disgusting. Like, just because the point of Karen’s Diner is to be “offensive”, it doesn’t give customers a free pass to be fkn awful.
Felicity Sowerbutts, director of the Young Workers Centre, told the ABC it was “nearly impossible” that Karen’s Diner workers who launched claims would see a resolution now that liquidators have entered the picture.
“But ultimately, it shows that a business that puts its staff at extreme risk of customer abuse, hangs their workers out to dry, and deliberately creates an unsafe environment is clearly doomed to fail,” she said.
Good bloody riddance, I say. If I want to be harassed mid-meal I’ll just organise lunch with my extended Italian family and tell them I’m a 27-year-old single woman who has no
