By Santiago Leon Torres
Many Dominican University dining service workers have made complaints alleging a hostile work environment, but management has dismissed their grievances.
“They are putting too much pressure on us and giving us more work than we can humanly do,” said a veteran line cook.
She explains that the pressure does not just affect the workers mentally, but that it can be a liability as well.
“You can have an accident and not only will the company we work for be affected, but also the university, because you can fall, you can get burned, 1,000 things can happen to you,” the line cook said.
In order to truly understand working conditions at Dominican’s dining hall, it is crucial to hear from the staff members themselves. However, due to the fear of retaliation, several sources agreed to be interviewed only on the condition of anonymity.
“If you put my name on this story, I would most definitely be fired,” said a cashier for the dining hall.
You may be wondering what could make staff members reluctant to speak to the Dominican Star, especially since many dining staff members have contributed to stories in the past. There are many reasons, but one echoed amongst almost every staff member was Connie Chambers, the new kitchen manager since around September of 2025.
“They changed so many things. They put too much pressure on us. They give us too much work. There’s not even enough people to carry out the work they want us to do. We’ve made complaints to urge them to hire new staff, but they have told us they are not hiring anyone else,” said the line cook.
The frustration does not end with being understaffed. Some employees expressed they felt overworked and underpaid.
“Lately, I’ve been only cashiering because I was doing cook work. When I spoke up to management about it because cooks get paid $2 more, she [Chambers] stuck me up front and I no longer go back there.
Towanda Yates, or Titi as most students know her, has been working at Dominican for three years consecutively as a cashier. She declined to be attributed anonymously.
“We just need more workers, more help. That’s it. I have no complaints. Some things are up and down, but it’s ok because you can work through it,” Yates expressed.
When it comes to staffing issues, Chambers denies any intentional exploitation on her part.
“I think we have the right amount of staff,” said Chambers. “It’s when we have call-offs typically and obviously flu bugs happen and people can get sick and it’s about how you respond to that right? Sometimes the other demands of catering might pop up and then we try to get additional cooks and things like that. We do everything to accommodate whatever needs there are.”
Staffing issues and exploitation are already enough to deal with. Unfortunately, it is only a small part of staff members’ workdays. Some employees have even accused Chambers of verbal and/or physical harassment.
“They always have meetings in the morning if they can where they let us know about any changes happening. But every time someone has an issue or a complaint, they get aggressive with that person,” said the line cook. “The kitchen manager is very aggressive. She speaks to us badly. If she has anything to say to you, she’s going to say it badly.”
Being in that environment can be exhausting. How would one even speak up about it? The cashier explains that she has had a hard time advocating for herself over an altercation she alleges occurred after Chambers and the cashier had a disagreement over the floor not being dried properly.
“So, I sent an email [to the union] explaining that the supervisor had grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me because I told her about the floor,” the cashier said. “I reached out to them because when I told her, ‘Hey, don’t touch me and don’t grab me ever again.’ She’s like, ‘I didn’t touch you or grab you.’ But I had a witness that was there. I said, ‘Please don’t lie. You know, you did,’ and so she started retaliation against me.”
This employee also filed a police report along with her HR complaint. According to the police report obtained from the River Forest Police Department, “On 25OCT25, at approximately 1055 hours[redacted] grabbed her by the shoulders from the front and shook her back and forth in the Dominican University cafeteria. [redacted] advised [redacted] to stop shaking her and not to touch her. [redacted] advised [redacted] has not grabbed her nor done anything similar since the incident but continues to make her feel uncomfortable in the work place.”
In response to the allegations combined with the police report, Sarah Lyons, the press representative for UNITE HERE Local 1, the union that represents quest workers, states that they cannot comment on the specific incident.
However, she issued the following statement, “Per the union contract between UNITE HERE Local 1 and Quest at Dominican, workers have the right to a safe workplace and to be treated with dignity and respect. Verbal or physical abuse, threats or harassment have no place in the workplace. Workers who have concerns have the right to report them to Quest free of retaliation. UNITE HERE Local 1 encourages workers who have concerns to speak with their Union shop steward about remedies under the contract and other support.”
In regard to these specific allegations, Chambers could not be reached for comment.
This sort of treatment may be shocking to students, but for staff, it can be detrimental.
“Everybody is very miserable in the back. And we just don’t know how to get the help from the school without compromising our jobs. That’s why I did things the right way. And I had to go to the police station and put my report in because it’s getting so bad,” the cashier said. “I have a three-year-old. I can’t lose my job, you know? So, I haven’t told anybody at the school about it because what do I do if they fire me?”
Despite the heavy allegations and talk of mistreatment, the cashier still wants to provide a safe environment for students and staff at Dominican.
“The most important thing to put in the paper is that she’s not following the Dominican way. You know, I’ve only been met with kindness here at Dominican. I think you guys preach kindness and it’slacking lately,” the cashier expressed. “I mean, we used to put up on the TV like happy Black History Month or happy Hispanic Heritage Month. We no longer post that. And it’s really disappointing. It’s really disappointing because I feel like the school does a great job, but dining also has to reflect that and I don’t feel like we’re doing good.”
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