CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses rape and sexual assault.
Leading hospitality group Merivale has come under fire by former employees and patrons who accuse the company of putting women at risk, allegedly condoning drug use and failing to appropriately address claims of sexual assault.
A detailed investigation by the ABC revealed claims by former female staff members that they had felt unsafe whilst working at the venue, and when they reported instances of sexual assault to management, their claims were not taken seriously. The report also detailed a worrying experience by two female patrons after they were mistaken as sex workers.
In one instance, a 22-year-old former staff member from Coogee Pavilion alleged that she was raped by a colleague in 2018. She reported the incident to her workplace. Despite having a meeting with the venue’s management and an HR representative from Merivale head office, she claims she was required to continue working with her alleged rapist unless she made an official police report.
“I just kind of went well I’m not really prepared to make a police report and I had at that point told them that I had already dealt with the police on an issue like this previously and I didn’t feel comfortable going back,” she said, per the ABC.
“They said, ‘Okay well there’s nothing we can do then’.”
Another former female employee who worked at Hemmesphere, a bar in Sydney’s CBD, reported feeling unsafe after being assaulted by male customers without support from management.
The anonymous employee claimed she was working an evening in 2021 when two men began acting inappropriately towards her. She was serving them when one of the men grabbed her around the waist, pushed her against the wall and tried to kiss her. When she tried to get away, the other one put his arm around her neck “to kind of bear hug me”.
When she told her manager that the men had been “really rapey”, her manager attempted to correct her vernacular rather than step in.
“Instead of showing any kind of concern she argued with me, ‘Rapey is a really strong term to use’. And so I corrected myself, and I said, ‘Okay I feel like they’re molesting me’,” the former employee told the ABC.
“And then she said, again, ‘That’s a very strong term to use’. She didn’t see the situation. She didn’t ask me what happened. She just argued with me over the terminology, and when I tried to explain to her, she just got frustrated and walked away.”
According to the former employee, the men were allowed to stay in the venue and she was still required to serve them drinks despite the uncomfortable situation. The same employee also reported that drug use was “normalised” at the venue.
“The managers were fully aware of whatever kind of drugs were being done in the bathrooms,” she claimed.
“The managers themselves would be doing this in the bathrooms [and] they would be giving it to staff. They knew that the disabled bathroom is where all of the guests would go to do it.”
In response to this employee’s claims, a Merivale spokesperson said they “were not able to sensibly respond” due to the lack of information provided and needed “written consent from any employee (current or former)” to provide a response to any allegations during their employment.
The bombshell report also featured an account by 22-year-old patron Jess Helinski. She was enjoying Sydney’s Ivy nightclub when she and a friend were separated from the rest of her group. The pair were then approached by a Merivale staff member who offered to help them locate their friends.
Helinski alleges that the employee took them to a private lift, rather than the public staircase, and brought them to a back-of-house area to access a VIP area behind the DJ booth. The employee sat them next to a group of men they didn’t know.
“At that point, alarm bells were kind of going for me,” she said, per the ABC’s report.
Helinski claims that she and her friends were handed drinks, and once the employee left, a male customer asked her when she got into “this industry”.
“So, I said, What industry? And then he said to me, ‘The sex industry — the man you were just with told us that you’re sex workers and you’re going to spend the night with us’,” Hellinski alleged.
After she corrected him, she claimed the customer told her that they were in a dangerous position.
“He said something along the lines of, ‘You girls need to leave, I’m so sorry, it’s not safe for you in this situation’. It wasn’t necessarily a very traumatic experience … I just couldn’t make sense of it in my head,” she said.
Following the experience, Hellinski feels that she and her friend were put in a “vulnerable position where something could have gone really, really wrong.”
While Merivale declined to provide a comment to the ABC, the NSW Police confirmed that they are investigating the incident.
“Officers from Sydney City Police Area Command are conducting inquiries regarding an incident which is alleged to have occurred at a licensed premise on George Street, Sydney on Saturday 9 March 2024,” they wrote.
“As investigations are ongoing, police will not make any further comment.”
The accusations against Merivale come following an investigative report alleging sexual assault, harassment and drug use at its establishments and rival hospitality group Swillhouse by the Sydney Morning Herald in August.
Help is available.
- If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
- If you’d like to speak to someone about sexual violence, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
- Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
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