Celebrity chef and restaurateur Andrew Gruel blasted California legislation aimed at protecting employees from violence at their job sites, saying it would “punish” businesses for “trying to stop a crime in progress.”
“Instead of just simply prosecuting criminals in California, the state government has spent money and resources drafting, passing, and amending a bill that will effectively add onerous and costly work for business owners to come up with a ‘violence prevention plan’ and will punish any business or business owners for trying to stop a crime in progress, even security guards!” the California business owner said of Senate Bill 553 in a post on X, the platform formerly named Twitter.
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Businesses, particularly grocery and convenience stores, in major cities across California have seen rampant mobs of thieves.
The bill text said businesses would be required “to establish, implement, and maintain, at all times in all work areas, an effective workplace violence prevention.”
Gruel said the bill “mandates employers develop workplace violence prevention plans that will be monitored by the state AND prevent any employee, including security, from stopping a shoplifter or criminal in the act.”
He added: “Fines will be levied on any business that violates this framework and doesn’t have an appropriate plan in place.”
The California Chamber of Commerce, the California Retailers Association, and the California Grocers Association have fought this measure, calling it unfeasible for employers.
High-end retail stores in Beverly Hills have been replaced with empty storefronts after rampant smash-and-grab gang robberies. A dozen retailers and restaurants, including Barneys New York, Escada, Chanel, Rite Aid, and Barnes & Noble, have completely shuttered in the city following burglaries and a surge in crime.
San Francisco saw a retail exodus trend due to crime and homelessness this summer when the 70-store downtown Westfield Mall relinquished ownership of the shopping center. Whole Foods recently closed its flagship in downtown San Francisco “to ensure worker safety.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration already has the work environment requirement of keeping workplaces “free from recognized hazards.”
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The bill states the government will be authorized to “impose a civil penalty pursuant to specified law, including when any employer violates any occupational safety or health standard, order, or special order, if the violation is a serious violation.”
The bill is headed for a full vote in the California Assembly, and if it is approved, it will be signed by the governor. The legislation would be the first in the nation to enact such worker requirements.
