Restaurant Owner Boasted Online About Spiking a Vegan's Food And It Has Completely Ruined Her Career
You won't believe this story.
When people go out to eat, it as seen as a pretty low-key event. You go, you order what you want, and you then you sit and eat while you relax alone or with family/friends. For people to work in the food industry in general and in restaurants, see it a lot differently, especially the cooks/chefs. They have to cook the ordered food to perfection in order to please peoples' taste buds, or even for ethical, religious, or medical reasons.
One incorrectly- prepared order could mean an ethical or religious violation for a customer or even a life-threating allergic reaction to another. This is why the chefs/cooks in restaurants have such a deep responsibility. All restaurant orders should be prepared correctly in order to respect someone's wishes and their health.
However, this doesn't always PAN out. Just before the new year, Laura Goodman, who is a co-owner (alongside her fiance Michael Gale) of the Carlini Restaurant in England, tweeted that a "pious, judgemental vegan has gone to bed still believing she’s a vegan.” This means exactly what you think it does- Laura "spiked" a vegan's food with animal products.
You can imagine the attention this post got. One person commented, “I hope you didn’t do anything on purpose to make her meal non-vegan. If so that is disgusting and so out of order, I would be furious with anybody that did that." Someone else commented “it would be the same if someone of a religious background came in and she spiked their food with prohibited substances," and another user agreed: “I am sure you would agree prohibited is prohibited regardless of the reasoning behind it.”
In response to this backlash, Laura tried to defend herself on the Facebook post. She said that the vegan had "started with asking me to telephone them, over Christmas, to discuss the dietary requirements of their guests within a set time frame." It's clear that Laura's frustration with an inconvenient customer request has backfired on her. Several replies to the tweet read “It’s literally assault upon a person” and “this seems worthy of a lawsuit!” Laura could easily be charged with assault over this event.
Laura Goodman with her fiance and Carlini Restaurant Co-Owner, Michael Gale.
3 days after the Tweet, a representative for the Carlini restaurant stated that "Laura Goodman has today tendered her resignation from Carlini" and subsequently posted that they are looking for a replacement. A friend of Laura's said that she is "too scared to leave the house...she can’t believe she has found herself in this position. She actually made a flippant remark which wasn’t even true. She didn’t actually ‘spike’ anyone’s food. It’s been a nightmare for her.”
Whether or not Laura actually did this, she expressed her frustration over the customer in an inappropriate way over an inappropriate medium- the internet. She's a person and people make mistakes, but this was very poor judgement on her part. It's safe to say that this may have ruined her career and reputation. The lesson to learn here- when you're frustrated, take a deep breath and think about how you really want to deal with it. If you choose to talk about it, make it a conversation with someone you trust, NOT strangers over the internet.
Jenny
