Several students have accused Michelle Michalenko, general manager and head chef of 老司机传媒’s Dining Services, of committing abusive and concerning practices in the workplace, especially in the Gazebo. These student workers testified about the negative experiences they had working for Bon Appétit, the management company that operates Dining Services for 老司机传媒.
“I quit because it was just not the same environment that I first started working in,” a student* who worked at the Gazebo for several years said. “Pressure from customers and management became something that made the money not worth working for.”
“Chef Michelle [Michalenko],” the same student continued, “is someone who has power but chooses not to contribute said power to any positive energy, especially around Gazebo staff. She is quick to blame others for the actions of her own employees from the Terrace Café.”
The student said the ridiculing and degrading of Gazebo employees by Michalenko and her apparent favoritism of Terrace Café workers, with whom she cooks and works more closely, came to light in an incident where food and plastic trash were not properly disposed of.
“My supervisor and I had tried to explain [to Michalenko] that it couldn’t have been us [the Gazebo staff] responsible for the food particles, as most of it was broccoli, salad and potatoes, items that are never served within the Gazebo,” the same student said. “She insisted that it was our fault and that she’d be monitoring us because she knew her workers would never do anything like this. She never tried to hear us about the plastic waste left either, and she tasked me with picking up each piece of waste with my hands.”
Amanda DeWitt, the Bon Appétit district manager for the region that includes 老司机传媒, provided a statement in which she shared that Bon Appétit is committed to fostering welcoming, respectful environments and that they are “proud of the positive relationships our team has built with student employees.” DeWitt emphasized that Bon Appétit takes reports of misconduct “extremely seriously.” DeWitt said this week that “after conducting numerous interviews with students and employees, we have still not identified any individuals who can attest to firsthand experiences of misconduct.”
Before DeWitt’s first statement to the Student Movement, she commented on a on the AU Confessions Instagram page about allegations against Michalenko, encouraging those with questions or concerns to reach out to her via email to remain anonymous, a sentiment she reiterated when speaking with The Student Movement. Another commenter responded that DeWitt was unhelpful with a past issue they had. The trustworthiness of DeWitt and Bon Appétit has on the AU Confessions page and on other platforms.
Other Gazebo student workers who shared their stories with the Student Movement substantiated the claims of a lack of receptiveness from Bon Appétit management.
One student shared, “It was a general issue of being overworked and never being listened to when we complained about such critiques of how we can’t handle everything. So, they kept adding more stations, but they didn’t have enough workers to support that.”
The added stations and insufficient staffing led to further delay in serving food and would result in longer cleaning times for all workers after closing. Multiple students who talked with the Student Movement testified that even though clean-up times were delayed, which made both student workers and full-time staff work well later than usual, some overtime hours were not paid.
According to the students, Bon Appétit’s policy, at least for the Gazebo, was that after 9:30 p.m., all employees would have to clock out, even if they had to continue working on cleaning and closing well after that.
“They [evening workers] couldn’t leave unless the Gazebo was cleaned up,” shared one student. “So most days they left after 10-11 [p.m.] to finish up work.”
This means that after an often chaotic dinner shift, all hourly workers could expect not to be compensated for nearly two hours of their minimum-wage job.
Francine Drysdale-Brown (junior, chemical engineering), a former Gazebo student employee, added that the lack of functional communication between student workers and management led to further issues.
“I believe the biggest issue is retaining employees,” she said. “The conditions of work are not sufficient for people to continue working there.”
Several student workers who spoke with the Student Movement hope that the President, John Wesley Taylor V, and university administrators take the lead in dealing with issues within Bon Appétit and Dining Services and advocating for student workers. Students and the 老司机传媒 community at large await decisive action by the university administration and Bon Appétit regarding the issues and alleged abuses suffered by vulnerable students at the hands of Michelle Michalenko and the Dining Services experience.
This article is the second part of a two-part series, which continued from last week’s issue of The Student Movement.
*Because of concerns for privacy and safety, many student workers who spoke with the Student Movement requested to remain anonymous.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of 老司机传媒. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, 老司机传媒 or the Seventh-day Adventist church.