In a world filled with subpar cinema chains, where watching a film can be more of an annoyance than the enjoyable experience it is meant to be, the Alamo Drafthouse is supposed to be different. The chain has more than 40 locations in the US and is supposed to be focused on making the theatrical experience much more enjoyable than other places, with better food and stricter movie-watching policies. But apparently, all that comes at a price. A price that is paid by the employees.
A new piece at The Pitch goes to comprehensive lengths to dive into a laundry list of issues that were voiced by employees of an Alamo Drafthouse location in Kansas City. The article makes sure the issues expressed by the former employees are voiced in detail. This includes many allegations that employees were forced to go up a number of flights of stairs to deliver food, even when many of them were physically injured and/or experiencing a disability that made those stairs a nightmare. The expectations were apparently set by the management team with the threat of job termination if the employees didn’t do what was asked. But that’s far from the only problem raised in the piece.
To really understand the abhorrent working conditions that former employees described, here is just one of the quotes from the piece.
“Every time it rained, the basement would flood with human shit,” said one employee. “On nights when it rained really hard, it would come up through the toilets in the lobby, and the lobby would flood with shit. I can’t count the number of times I had to put on rubber boots and wade out through the shit in the lobby and fix the toilets.”
And the physical conditions of the theater, and the myriad problems that were caused because of them, were compounded by the fact that there was a litany of other abuses happening at the very same Kansas City location.
It’s also reported that employees had to endure sexual harassment from the management team, as well as verbal abuse, often in front of customers when they were found to be not following instructions. There are also allegations of physical altercations between management and employees, at least by one of the employees.
There were even more troubling accusations lobbed by the former employees about the enforcement of the “no talking” policy that Alamo Drafthouse touts as a way to make the theatrical experience there more enjoyable for customers. Except, according to employees, the management team specifically targeted Black audiences.
READ MORE: WarnerMedia Exec Warns About “Further Delays” Of More 2020 Films
Another alarming issue raised by one employee is the allegation that Alamo Drafthouse management would alter ticket sales documentation to better suit their needs. If they wanted to make it so a smaller film would be gone in time for a much bigger release the next week, one employee alleged that the management would void “hundreds of tickets” to show the ticket sales were lagging.
“They’d void out sometimes hundreds of tickets,” an employee revealed about an example from 2004. “It’d be under someone’s ticket taker login, and they’d void out ‘Meet the Fockers’ or whatever. I’d say ‘Is this legal?’ and they’d be like ‘Don’t ask about it.’”
You can read the full details about all the allegations in The Pitch piece. It’s well worth a read, even if it is a bit distressing.
UPDATE: Alamo Drafthouse has provided us with an email that was sent by CEO Shelli Taylor to the staff of the company after hearing about the allegations:
From: Shelli Taylor
Date: Fri, Jul 24, 2020 at 4:34 PM
Subject: a message from my heart
The uncertainty of the past four months has led to reckonings and difficult discussions within industries, organizations, and companies all over the world. As many of you are aware, that includes the cinema industry, and it also includes our company.
At the same time, over the past few weeks we’ve seen some current, furloughed, and former teammates discussing their experiences at the company publicly, via social media, and it is deeply disturbing and troubling. We don’t know the details or timeline of many of these allegations – some appear to be recent, while others seem to date back many years. Regardless, they are painful stories of disappointment, frustration, and failings within our culture. We may have been unaware of some of these accounts, some of them may not have been handled properly, but regardless, we want to hear your story and urge you to come forward and report any misconduct to the People department by emailing [email protected] or calling (877) 892-2193.
I wanted to take this opportunity to make it absolutely clear – there is no place for abuse or harassment of any kind at Alamo Drafthouse.
To anyone victimized while they’ve worked for Alamo Drafthouse – I am very sorry, and I promise that things are going to change. People who violate our Code of Conduct and engage in this kind of behavior must and will be held accountable.
I’m aware that we made strides in dealing with workplace behavior since after 2017, but we must do even more. Investing in our people and fostering a safe, healthy environment is my number one priority. I spent 20 years of my career at companies like Starbucks and Disney and they have helped to shape my leadership priorities in this area. If we can evolve our culture we can do extraordinary things together and Alamo Drafthouse will re-emerge from this pandemic stronger and with even greater purpose.
Although most of us are sheltering in place at our homes, my number one priority for when we return to work is to ensure that you are all going back to a safe and hospitable working environment. An environment similar to what our guests experience and love about Alamo Drafthouse, and what got me excited about becoming CEO a few months ago.
I wanted to outline additional concrete actions we’re undertaking to restore our culture and ensure we all return to work in the best possible working environment:
- For the past 90 days, I have engaged in one-on-one meetings and roundtables, as well as reviewing Workday pulse surveys and individual Workify comments to hear everyone’s stories, hopes, and expectations of Alamo Drafthouse with the intention of synthesizing feedback into a comprehensive workplace culture strategy moving forward. I am excited to continue these surveys and discussions when our venues are able to reopen and incorporate all of your feedback. These findings will then inform how we can strengthen and improve reporting structures.
- We are partnering with a leading workplace culture consultant who specializes in organizational development and change to develop a rollout plan for our concern resolution process designed to enhance venue level communications that will also include training on manager coaching and concern resolution at the local level.
- At the same time, we are setting up a one-stop helpline that brings all of our communication channels to one helpline that will also help us track data, and learn from trends.