Blaine Wetzel accused of creating nightmarish work environment on Lummi Island

For years, The Willows Inn off the coast of Washington has been a destination for foodies, who close out the restaurant nearly every night of its season from April through December.

But now, 35 former staff members have come forward to accuse the master chef Blaine Wetzel, 35, of creating a ‘nightmarish’ work environment at the famed restaurant, with sexual harassment and the use of racial and derogatory slurs.

In a New York Times report published Tuesday, female employees who grew up on the nine-mile Lummi Island described how kitchen workers would allegedly pressure teenage girls for sex, touch them inappropriately and provide them with drugs and alcohol so they would be compliant.

The men, they said, would constantly harass teenage employees from the island with sexual overtures and innuendos and pressured them to stay after work to party, where they would encourage them to do drugs or drink alcohol.

The workers alleged that Wetzel is to blame for the toxic atmosphere and also claimed he lied about using only locally sourced ingredients in his dishes. 

Wetzel has denied these allegations, which came to light weeks after the Willows paid a $600,000 settlement last month over claims it misappropriated tips and failed to provide overtime for people working 14-hour shifts.

Blaine Wetzel (pictured), 35, started working at The Willows Inn in 2010, and took over shortly after

Blaine Wetzel (pictured), 35, started working at The Willows Inn in 2010, and took over shortly after

He had previously worked at a restaurant in Copenhagen, and has earned several awards

He had previously worked at a restaurant in Copenhagen, and has earned several awards

Sarah Letchworth (pictured), a former server at the restaurant, claimed Wetzel once refused to drive her home until she did shots with him

Sarah Letchworth (pictured), a former server at the restaurant, claimed Wetzel once refused to drive her home until she did shots with him

‘Lummi Island 16 meant that you were available for sex, and that any kind of creepy and predatory behavior was fine,’ said 21-year-old Sarah Letchworth, who started working at the restaurant when she was 15.

Three years later, she said, Wetzel offered to drive her home from a party but instead took her to his house.

He refused to take her home unless she did rounds of shots with him, she recounted, and she complied. Wetzel then drove her home when she was drunk. 

But the sexual harassment did not stop as the teenagers got older, the women claim. 

They said Wetzel and other managers would order them to lose weight and get manicures and eyelash extensions at their own expense, but then blocked them from promotions.

The New York Times reported that none of the women who worked in the kitchen had been promoted to sous-chef or chef de cuisine, and the two that Wetzel identified to the Times as having been promoted to sous-chefs said they never held that job. 

Some had been promoted to managerial roles in the innkeeping and dining sides.

Wetzel repeatedly denied these claims in the New York Times article. His longtime manager, Reid Johnson, did not comment on the allegations.

‘We are deeply saddened to learn that some former employees shared concerns about our business,’ Wetzel said in a statement to the newspaper.

‘Our goal is for anyone who works at The Willows to think of us as the most kind, caring, generous and talented people that they have ever worked with and that The Willows was the best job they ever had.’

‘If we are missing that mark in any way, we must improve.’

The Willows Inn sits on Lummi Island, off the coast of Washington

The Willows Inn sits on Lummi Island, off the coast of Washington

It has seven guest rooms in its main building and can seat up to 40 patrons a night at its restaurant

It has seven guest rooms in its main building and can seat up to 40 patrons a night at its restaurant

Former employees at the restaurant claim Wetzel has created a toxic environment, with sexual harassment and racist language.

Former employees at the restaurant claim Wetzel has created a toxic environment, with sexual harassment and racist language.

Recently, nine senior staffers at the inn resigned over the culture of the restaurant.

They said Wetzel would often scream at his employees in direct view of the customers they were serving, calling the Latino employees and Asian customers racial slurs.

He would also lie about the dishes he was serving at the Michelin-Star rated restaurant.

Wetzel advertises The Willows as only serving food produced from the nine-mile island, with his own farm, but Scott Weymiller, a longtime sous-chef at the restaurant, said it would be impossible to serve 25 different plates to up to 40 people six nights a week with only the food produced on the small island.

‘You can do that for two days, but you can’t do it for two weeks,’ Weymiller said, ‘Much less for an entire season.’

So when the locally-sourced food would run out, the former employees alleged, they would buy ingredients from the mainland supermarkets – including chickens from Costco. 

Sometimes, the employees said, they would even serve guests who asked for vegetarian and vegan versions of the meals the standard dishes, which are made with chicken and seafood.

‘We never misrepresent our ingredient sources,’ Wetzel said in response to these allegations, adding, ‘My step-mom and brother are Chinese, my wife is Mexican, and anyone that would claim I was racist is lying.’

He did not, however, deny that some of his ingredients came from supermarkets.

The employees said they decided to put up with Wetzel’s offensive language, sexism and bullying because they figured a recommendation form him would help them land a better job in the future.

Employees claim Wetzel, front left, refused to promote women in the kitchen

Employees claim Wetzel, front left, refused to promote women in the kitchen 

Lummi Island is only nine-miles in area

Lummi Island is only nine-miles in area

Wetzel had worked as a chef in Copenhagen before moving to Lummi in 2010. He has previously said he wanted to return home to Washington, and found a job at The Willows, where he figured he would work until he found a ‘real job’ in Seattle. 

He soon fell in love with the tiny island though, and took over the restaurant and inn from a local chicken farmer.

Wetzel was named the Best New Chef of 2012 by Food & Wine magazine, and in 2014, he earned the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year. One year later, he was awarded Best Chef of the Northwest. 

He is credited with turning the island into a destination for foodies. 

Employees at the restaurant, though, said they had to go to Reid Johnson, who took a hands-off approach, with any complaints. They said Johnson never acted on any of them.

Wetzel, however, denied this, saying, ‘Reid Johnson records, reports and acts on every complaint in the workplace.’

He added that he had an independent Human Resources consultant available for the employees at all times, but the employees say the consultant was first hired last year.

In 2017, a federal investigation confirmed employees’ accounts of wage theft, violating federal law by forcing employees to work 14-hour days for as little as $50 and hiring culinary interns for free labor.

The inn was fined $149,000 and end its internship program.

Then in March, Wetzel agreed to pay $600,000 to settle a subsequent class-action lawsuit, which was brought by 99 employees who claimed he misappropriated tips and failed to provide overtime for people working 14-hour shifts.

As part of the settlement, the Times reported, Wetzel was not required to admit to any wrongdoing. 

source: dailymail.co.uk