Suspension of Mather Staff Member Calls Management Into Question

Olivia Silvey ’25

Editor-in-Chief

The recent suspension of a Mather staff member has prompted a larger conversation about the treatment of Mather staff by management, an issue that has been present for at least two years according to three members of staff. The suspension (pending termination) on Nov. 14 was a result of the staff member in question circulating a petition for better treatment of staff by management, alleging consistent harassment from Executive Chef Janusz Lipski. The petition was only available for students to sign for a few hours, but garnered over 300 student signatures before the staff member was asked to stop by Residential Manager Maurice Little and Campus Director of Culinary Martin Turcotte. The staff member was off the clock while gathering signatures. 

Three other staff members shared stories of alleged harassment by Lipski, on the condition of anonymity. Harassment has included instances of Lipski speaking down to staff to the point of staff crying, regular use of expletives directed towards staff members including the N-slur and unpromptedly repeating phrases such as “Make America Great Again” and “I am Trump.” 

The staff members stated that they had brought these issues to Little, but they have not been addressed to the necessary extent. Both Lipski and Little did not respond when asked to comment. 

Union representative and prominent Connecticut organizer Diana St. Mark explained the typical process when a staff member is suspended, although she is not directly involved with the current situation. The staff member will go through a grievance procedure, next meeting with the company to determine if the suspension is valid, St. Mark said to the Tripod. If the decision stays, the process moves to the district manager, and if it continues to be valid, it goes to labor relations, where St. Mark becomes involved. At each of these points in the process, the suspension has a possibility to be resolved. Ultimately, if the suspension is not resolved, then the process moves to arbitration. St. Mark stated that the union has made it clear that this is not a Chartwells issue, but rather explicitly an issue with management and individuals. One of the staff members also reaffirmed that this is a reflection of management and not Chartwells as a larger company.  

The staff member returned to work Monday, Nov. 18 after being suspended for four days. This is a developing story.