Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam wants servers/bartenders to be trained on how to spot behaviour that can lead to sexual harassment or assault pic.twitter.com/bJPZ97wAEn
— NEWSTALK1010 (@NEWSTALK1010) November 7, 2016
A Toronto councillor wants it to be mandatory for bar and restaurant staff to be trained on spotting behaviour that leads to sexual assault or harassment.
Kristyn Wong-Tam is bringing forward a motion at this week's council meeting, asking the city to request that the province include such training in the Smart Serve program.
Staff have to take the Smart Serve program to be able to serve alcohol. The main focus has been on not over-serving customers.
Wong-Tam points to studies that show sexual assault is more common in or around bars and restaurants, where alcohol is served.
Staff and managers of several establishments in the area of Yonge & Dundas tell NEWSTALK 1010 they agree that training on sexual harassment behaviour is a good idea, but they worry about liability.
Sarah, a server at the Imperial Pub, says she has had to intervene before when a female customer looked uncomfortable, and supports having all staff trained on what to look out for.
"The people in this bar - their safety is my responsibility."
But she says the province would have to be careful when laying out what kind of legal responsibility staff would have.
"I think that some of the laws that we have already regarding what we're liable for when people leave this building are harsh," she says. "We're not going to be able to spot everything."