A hard blow to prestige represents the long list of claims that have sprung against the Vatel Group Hotel School in Paris, France.

The alleged abuses are denounced by a group of students. They expose a “toxic” work environment in which there is sexual harassment, homophobic remarks and insults from teachers.

They also complain that they were burned with frying pans and touched with spatulas. “It’s not what we dreamed of,” says one young man.

As a measure of rejection, they have refused to go to work. No dish or dessert can be good if you work in such a space. The complainers are waiting for answers.

Protest at the cooking school

One girl described her experience at the AFP agency as follows: “They yelled at us every day. They told me: ‘You are a mi+++a’. She was so distraught that she cried in the morning and vomited at night.”

Since last Monday, March 27, they point out from Paris that about 60 third-year students in Paris from the Vatel School have refused to work in their restaurant in protest against the behavior of some teachers.

The abuses in gastronomy schools are not new. In 2014, according to the agency, top French chefs publicly called for an end to the “hazing-like violence” that was befalling some of the country’s most prestigious kitchens.

More than eight years later, Vatel students say there is still work to be done.

Long list of alleged abuses

The third graders go to class, but don’t go to work in the restaurant.

Another student pointed out to her pastry chef that she had been touching her back and stroking her arms since her first week of study.

He assures that he reported it as “inappropriate behavior” to the management, but “he knew nothing afterwards”

The girls describe from anonymity that they were sometimes afraid “to comfort crying freshmen after the same confectioner had whispered obscene remarks in their ears or hit their buttocks with a spatula”.

A third woman told a strong episode on the same topic.

He held me by the neck and wondered what I had been doing with my boyfriend this weekend.

student, whistleblower

The three complainants pointed out that two other cooks were also yelling at the students.

“They used to get angry, insult the students, tell them they were useless and they would never succeed,” they explain. One of those cooks knowingly put a hot frying pan in her hand, which burned her.

The young woman says she is disappointed to be in a school that is “so backward” when the rest of the industry cracked down on sexism and harassment.

It’s not the school we dreamed of”

One young man thought the school should do better for the 11,400 euros ($12,500) each student pays in tuition each year.

“Despite all the money we spend, it’s not really the school we dreamed of,” he explained.

The pastry chef throws us bowls (trays) and whisks

Pupil at Vatel School

One day, the chief allegedly used a homophobic slur against him, telling him, “You’re not getting anywhere in this industry.”

On the restaurant floor, the boss was no better, said a fourth woman who graduated from the school in 2020.

“He whispered in my ear, ‘I want you,'” she recalls.

The Vatel group

The Vatel Group “has 52 hospitality schools spread around the world”.

It prides itself on earning $99 million a year through them, the agency says.

According to AFP, the research website Mediacites, in 2020 at least 141 students petitioned Vatel founder Alain Sebban to take action against “the contempt and disrespect of teaching staff”.

The management handed the petition to his son Dov Sebban, who runs the Paris school, but the students claim he has not responded.

The school management, consulted by the bureau, indicated that it had received a letter in 2019 with complaints about the school board.

But in a message to students dated March 27, seen by AFP, Sebban said he was taking action following allegations in 2022 against two professors for “demeaning remarks and gestures”.

The board stated that two teachers, “a chef and a pastry chef”, had been penalized, but did not go into details.

On April 5, Sebban sent a second letter to the students, admitting to “clearly unacceptable” behavior and promising to hire “outside consultants” to set up a reporting system for such incidents.

At the moment, “no staff member has been laid off”.

Last week the students were on vacation. Last Saturday, April 22, AFP indicated that it had not yet decided whether they would resume the strike upon their return.