That is the comment that the defendant is claiming after the EEOC is filing suit against Hilton Hotel, in Naperville Illinois, for hostile work environment towards Hispanics under Title VII.  This is an interesting case only because it raises the question, “If it is an industry norm to do something a certain way, can it still be illegal?”

In this case the chef and hotel are defending that he was no worse or better to any other group of people that worked under him.  He is an equal opportunity jerk.  If you have ever watched any of the cooking shows like Hell’s Kitchen you get an idea that everyone underneath the executive chef is worthless and treated as such.  Anyone working in a kitchen at a fine dinning establishment can probably verify that as well. But if that is the norm and everyone does it, is it still illegal?

That is what the EEOC will be deciding in the coming months.  It is not a question of whether this guy is right or wrong, I think most of us can answer the moral question of that, but whether this chef directly created a disparate impact towards a certain race or origin compared to everyone else in the kitchen.
I am not one for puns, such as “If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen.” but I am glad the EEOC is taking this harassment suit up because it has been long overdue of shedding some light as to how kitchen staff, who have predominate Hispanic populations, are treated. Just because it is the norm doesn’t make it acceptable or legal, but we will wait to see what the EEOC rules on this case.

Flickr phot by scratchandsniff