(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Guthrie employee quits, prompting investigation of alleged sexist culture
After the employee resigned this week, she wrote that the theater's culture "has kept and continues to keep women down" by tolerating inequity and harassment.
January 19, 2018 at 12:29AM
A former carpenter in the Guthrie shop resigned Tuesday, citing sexism and harassment. (Photo by Bruce Bisping/Star Tribune)
The Guthrie Theater will investigate claims from a former employee that the "organization breeds a culture that has kept and continues to keep women down."
On Tuesday, a woman who worked as a carpenter in the Guthrie shop shared her resignation letter on Facebook. In it, she describes a culture of sexual harassment and inequity. It reads, in part:
The woman said that she reached out to Guthrie management "countless times." But despite being "listened to every time," silence followed, she said.
In a statement, the Guthrie's artistic director Joseph Haj said the Guthrie is taking the allegation "very seriously," and will launch an independent investigation. Here is that statement, in full:
Meanwhile, a fellow employee says he has resigned in solidarity with his co-worker, the carpenter. In a Facebook post, that person called for the Guthrie to "own and publicly acknowledge the fact that their current culture is one of fear: fear of retaliation for speaking out and standing up."
