Published
Fri, Jan 20, 2023, 15:00
- In a statement, staff members accused the owner of abuse, assault, manipulation and late payment of wages, among other things.
Allegations of gross misconduct have led to a mass walkout at Copenhagen club Jolene.
In a collective statement, backed by all Jolene employees and posted online on Wednesday, January 18th, staff members aimed a catalogue of misconduct accusations at the owner, Kristian Gøtrik, including abuse, assault, manipulation and late payment of wages. (Gøtrik has yet to reply to Resident Advisor's request for comment.)
Since Gøtrik took over the club in 2020, "there have been multiple cases of lies, miscommunication and delays in staff salaries," the statement read. "Some have been working without a proper contract, even though they have continuously asked to receive one. On multiple occasions, there have been cases of the owner's inappropriate language directed towards staff and guests, which made people feel very uncomfortable."
It continued: "He has also had multiple outbursts, shouting directly into people's faces without justifiable reason or any provocation on the staff's part. He has manipulated people against each other and given false information about his actions with regards to the business. This has led to cases of staff being uncomfortable or even having anxiety at the thought of the owner potentially showing up during a shift, as his actions and mood are completely unpredictable and unstable."
The statement, posted on the Instagram page of staff member Giulio Bettio, also detailed a situation that occurred in the early hours of Saturday, January 14th, where Gøtrik banned four employees–including Bettio–following a petty argument over the fact that they were drinking while cleaning up.
Around 90 percent of the Jolene workforce left the company following this incident, as a show of solidarity with their colleagues. Staff at another Copenhagen venue owned by Gøtrik, Joy Bar, followed suit. They have also received broad support from the city's clubbing community. Many local collectives, such as Block3, Save our Sound and BGM8S Collective, have pledged to boycott Jolene, and all of the upcoming events at the club have subsequently been cancelled.
Bettio, who began working at Jolene in September 2021, told RA that, up until recently, he had enjoyed his time there. "Everything about Jolene was a nice experience," he said. "The staff were very united–like a family–and the customers were happy, but after a while the owner started becoming too aggressive with us. We think he basically wanted to change the way Jolene was being run, and he started to do things to try and push us out."
"On top of that, he was very disrespectful in the way he would speak to us," Bettio continued. "I remember once he sent this very long, angry message accusing us of disrespecting him just because we hadn't fixed a broken toilet seat."
From Bettio's experience, all of this started from November onwards. However, another former Jolene employee–who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals–insisted that this kind of behaviour from Gøtrik had been happening for far longer.
The employee, who worked closely with Gøtrik during their time at Jolene, told RA that he has been "erratic and crazy his entire life." They said that the club thrived when Gøtrik was less involved, describing the workforce as a family and explaining how they shared "a new ideology for the club."
According to the employee, this changed when Gøtrik decided he wanted to become more involved in the running of Jolene. "He lost some things in his personal life, and felt the need to focus more on Jolene as a result," they said. "I don't actually think that this has anything to do with the staff members or how the club was being run, it's just his personality. When things become difficult he becomes nasty."
The employee doesn't expect the situation to be resolved. "I honestly think that the club is done," they said. "I don't think that it has anything nice left. He's not going to change, he's going to be the same person no matter what happens. This has been going on for years."
While he admitted that the idea of Gøtrik apologising is "unrealistic," Bettio described the prospect of Gøtrik selling Jolene as "the only hope." He continued: "If the ownership of the club changes, we'd be happy to return to Jolene. I'd like also to add that, despite the very sad situation, I'm thankful to Kristian for giving me the chance to work there."
Opening its doors in 2007, Jolene is one of Copenhagen's most recognisable clubs. It was run as a limited company up until 2020, when Gøtrik, who had been involved since 2015, took over entire ownership.
Speaking to Danish newspaper Politiken, Gøtrik insisted that the situation is simply a misunderstanding on the part of the staff members.
"No one has been dismissed at any time," he said. "The employees themselves have resigned. A number of other employees have, as a consequence of their misunderstanding of the process, then chosen to terminate their hourly employment."
Read the staff statement in full.
Photo: Kontraframe