Lee Skeet is owner and chef at Cora, in Cardiff Wales. As a small business and restaurant owner, he is used to taking the heat and working under pressure. Since he worked under Gordon Ramsay early in his career, he certainly knows the “heat” at the higher ends of the scale. All of this experience may or may not have prepared him for the unique challenge that confronted him one night recently during dinner service.
One of his staff, who worked as both hostess and server, worked at a table where she was ridiculed, disgraced and touched inappropriately. When she reported her experience to Lee, he went to work–to show he would “work with” her in ways she probably didn’t expect. Lee wrote a professional but direct email to the dining party thanking them for choosing his restaurant. He detailed his insight into how they had treated a valued member of his restaurant family. Closing, Lee told the party to never return to his restaurant as they were no longer welcome–because of how they had treated their server. Specifically, his remarks included, “Lily means a lot more to me than money. I also think you should assess the people you surround yourself with.”
Originally, Mr. Skeet intended to return their 1000 GBP payment, deducting 100 GBP as a reasonable tip for Lily. But later he decided that the entire amount should go to Lily. When the story hit, social media went viral with hundreds of thousands of people praising Lily for her professionalism in dealing with such boorish customers and Lee for how he stood “with” her through the entire incident.
Bullies are everywhere and so, too often, is a sense of entitlement where one person or group feels they can demean or minimize another simply because the work they do is different. What Lee understood is that there is a human community expectation that we treat each other, regardless of our occupation or station in life, with the dignity, respect and courtesy due everyone, at all times.
What makes Lee and Lily’s story, so gratifying is just how immediate and persistent Mr. Skeet was in standing “with” Lily and doing the right thing, in a professional but direct way, with no regard to the potential negative consequences for his business. Thank you, Lee and thank you Lily.
