A famous chef recently resigned after being accused of physical abuse toward his restaurant’s staff. This article outlines four key lessons hospitality employers can learn from these events.

• Noma’s chef stepped down after recent reports of physical abuse toward his employees.
• Employers may be liable for not taking appropriate steps to address threats, harassing or abusive behavior, or violence in the workplace.
• Unpaid apprenticeships, called stages, may run the risk of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

René Redzepi was a founding chef at Noma, a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark, which ceased traditional restaurant service in 2024. Former employees had publicly accused Redzepi of inflicting physical and emotional abuse, claiming he had shoved and punched them, jabbed them with kitchen implements, and screamed at them. In March 2026, he resigned from running Noma pop-up restaurants (operating in Los Angeles) and from MAD, a nonprofit that he founded to teach chefs.

These events offer four important lessons that hospitality employers can learn and promptly implement.

1. Restaurants May Have a Higher Risk of Non-Fatal Workplace Violence.

The risk of workplace violence is higher in workplaces with certain factors, including working at night, exchanging money with the public, providing services where alcohol is served, and being located in areas with high crime rates, according to the Occupational and Safety Administration (OSHA). Indeed,...

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