Idle Isle Café up for sale, former employees speak out
BRIGHAM CITY, Utah () — Idle Isle Café in Brigham City is the oldest continually operating restaurant in Utah. It has had different owners, but the name and building have always been the same. That may change, though. The building is up for sale, and it appears the current owners plan to take the name with them.
For more than 100 years (since 1921), Main Street has been home to Idle Isle Café, but that piece of history may soon be lost to history. As the café closes its doors, some former employees are coming forward and saying it was a hostile work environment and that they're disappointed that the owners may be taking the name of the restaurant with them when they leave.
'They seemed to really be there for me in a way that I really needed at the time,' Chandi Wilkerson told ABC4. She worked for the current owners not long after they took over the café three years ago. That warm welcome, she said, didn't last long.
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'He started throwing utensils at me while I was cooking,' Wilkerson recounted.
This is just one of a handful of examples she gave to paint a picture of her experience. 'Just throwing things. After that, I just couldn't take it anymore, and I didn't want to continue to work in a hostile work environment.'
She's not alone.
'For me, it felt like there was nothing I could do,' Kearsta Bingham stated. 'I felt like I was being discriminated against for being pregnant, and I almost feel like I was being bullied to quit.'
She said that while she was pregnant, her shifts were being cut because she was not 'physically capable' of doing her job, according to the owners. Not long after this happened, she said she quit.
Brielle Grange was a teenager when she started working at the restaurant. She told ABC4 that she was always scared to go to work. There was one incident, though, that led to her quitting. It involved a melted milkshake.
'It made me scared,' she said, referring to the face her boss made at her. 'He looked at me and said, 'This is effing garbage,' and he threw it at me. It got all over my apron. It ruined one of my favorite pairs of pants because I couldn't go home and change at the time.'
All seven women who spoke to ABC4 mentioned charged conversations. Some of those conversations were allegedly directed at teenagers.
Ashon Veibell said it started during her job interview.
'He had made a weird comment to me about looking down my shirt because he had something wrong with his brain,' she stated. 'Like, it was a health disorder or something.'
'I've gotten plates thrown at me, rolls thrown at me, I was forced to go in a co-worker's car, who I was dating,' Katie Crowther recalled. She said she was 17 when this happened. 'They forced me into his car so that things could be done, but nothing happened.'
A Facebook post gives some insight into the reason for selling the building. It says, in part:
'Selling the building wasn't an easy decision, but it is necessary. We received an offer that we could not refuse, allowing us to pursue our dream of expanding Idle Isle Café to new locations across Utah. We believe this gem is too special to stay hidden. We are excited to bring its home-style charm and commitment to quality to more communities and keeping the spirit of Idle Isle Café alive. The name, the recipes, and the legacy will continue – preserved, honored, and ready for the next generation.'
Now that the café is closed, some employees who weren't treated badly are speaking out as well.
'I think it's very sad that they're keeping the Idle Isle name and not selling that too because it is a Brigham thing,' Brayden Edwards told ABC4.
He said that during his time at the restaurant, he was a favorite and was treated well. However, he said he often witnessed what others were going through and wanted to speak up for them. Referring to his former employers, he added: 'They don't deserve to keep it wherever they go and use it for their next business plans.'
'I just want justice to happen, and I want all my coworkers who experienced all these things, much worse than I did, to heal from it,' Jetta Arbon stated.
She said she was 14 when she was hired. She said she was not the target of bad behavior.
'I just believe there is a right thing to do, and that's why I spoke up about it now.'
She said she was afraid to speak out earlier because she had friends still working at the restaurant and didn't want them to be targeted because of her words.
When asked why the former employees are speaking out now, they all had similar answers. That of Chloe Harris sums up what the group said: 'These are the people who worked beside us for three years in Brigham, who ruined a staple restaurant of our community, it shouldn't be able to happen again, and it shouldn't be able to continue.'
ABC4 reached out to the café to talk about the sale and is waiting for a response.
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