Swillhouse has cancelled its Swillfest festival after partners, musicians, and sponsors pulled out over claims that the hospitality group failed to support staff who reported multiple alleged sexual assaults.
Content warning: this article contains references to sexual assault, coercion and graphic themes.
In a post to Instagram yesterday, the hospitality group confirmed that the event would be postponed and that ticketholders would be refunded. “Our responsibility and focus right now is to our people and their wellbeing, and for this reason, we don’t feel it’s appropriate to go ahead with plans for the Swillfest”.
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Non-member tickets for the festival, which was set to take place in the Rocks next month and was marketed as “one of Sydney’s most original spirit, wine and beer events”, sold out within four days.
The allegations were revealed following a months-long investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald and Good Food. Swillhouse reportedly pushed female staff out of the company after they reported sexual assaults and encouraged and rewarded staff who engaged in sexual relations with customers and took drugs on shift.
Swillhouse governs six of Sydney’s best-known and most popular venues, including the Rocks’ Le Foote, the CBD’s Restuarant Hubert, and Baxter Inn on Clarence Street.
Among those who have come forward are an ex-Hubert bartender, who is pursuing legal action, allegeding she was raped in the restaurant’s bathrooms after becoming “blackout drunk” from a cocktail given to her with “10 different gins”. After bringing the allegations to her employers, she was allegedly offered counselling but also placed on a performance management plan, had a reduction in hours and pay, and experienced post-traumatic stress disorder at work.
“The people that are making money are doing it off our broken bodies,” a bartender told The Sydney Morning Herald. “This industry that I have given so much to has completely f—ed me over”.
“They wheel you out on International Women’s Day, but you are afraid to be feminine,” another bartender was quoted. “It was established that if you say anything, you are out”.
In addition to misconduct among staff, it is reported that the allegations extend to customers, with “multiple recordings of people having sex in [Frankie’s] without their consent” being distributed within the team. When The Baxter Inn first opened in 2011, the all-male team was also reportedly issued a challenge: the first to have sex with a customer would be awarded a bottle of 1982 Penfolds Grange.
As the hospitality empire crumbles, the company is pleading with customers, staff and suppliers to stick with them. “While we cannot right the wrongs of the past, we acknowledge them and apologise for any hurt caused,” Swillhouse said in a statement.
Among the partners that dropped the festival are Icebergs Dining Room & Bar restaurateur Maurice Terzini, Young Henrys, P&V Wine and Liquor and Heaps Normal. “It’s imperative that we do what is best for the industry we love,” Terzini said. “I can confirm that we will not participate in the festival”.
Founder of Young Henrys, Oscar McMahon, called the allegations “as saddening as they are serious”. “Young Henrys is against harassment, violence and mistreatment of all kinds,” he said.
Singer Hevenshe and Maanyung both pulled out of the festival this week, leaving Kingswood as the last band standing in the ill-fated festival.
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Swillhouse chief executive Anton Forte resigned from the board of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association on Wednesday morning. In an email to staff, patrons and suppliers later that night, Swillhouse said the investigation had painted a “distressing picture of Swillhouse and our workplace culture”.
“Swillhouse is heartbroken that there have been instances where some of our current and former employees have felt unsupported, unheard or at risk,” it said. “We are fully committed to rebuilding any lost trust with each of you”.
Following Forte’s resignation, Gourmet Traveller, a prominent magazine within the Australian food industry, made the decision to remove Swillhouse’s Hubert from its annual restaurant guide.
“This is not the first time we have taken such action. Over the last five years, several establishments have been omitted from our Guide and wider Gourmet Traveller coverage in the face of concerns they may not meet our standards of ethical workplace behaviour,” said Gourmet Traveller editor, Joanna Hunkin in a statement.
“The print edition of the magazine has already been published, featuring Restaurant Hubert in the NSW Top 25 list,” Hunkin wrote. “However, it will be removed from all digital editions of the Guide”.
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