Lower your mask: Female restaurant workers face sexual harassment even during pandemic

Shelly Ortiz spent 10 years working in restaurants, most recently at a ramen joint in Phoenix, Arizona, before deciding to change careers five months into the pandemic. The last straw: A male customer asked that she pull down her face mask so he could base his tip on the attractiveness of her smile. When she declined, he declared that he would instead make his decision by eyeballing her chest. 

Such incidents are all too common in the restaurant world. More than 70% of women who work as servers, bartenders or in other food industry roles say they've been sexually harassed by their employers, coworkers or customers, according to a recent survey conducted by One Fair Wage, an advocacy group, in partnership with Social Science Research Solutions. The COVID-19 pandemic has only made things worse. The rate of sexual harassment among female restaurant workers is the highest of any industry, according to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) data. Before the coronavirus crisis, women in the restaurant business filed sexual harassment charges with the EEOC at twice the rate of the general workforce. Across the U.S., 7% of working women hold jobs in the restaurant industry, which accounts for 14% of all sexual harassment reports to the EEOC, according to One Fair Wage.