Teenage Pizza Hut employee says she suffers from anxiety and depression after being repeatedly raped by her supervisor while she was at work
- NZ Pizza Hut shift supervisor who raped employee, 17, three times is jailed
- Teen launches complaint with Human Rights Commission over handling of case
- Restaurant Brands to review culture of Pizza Hut and KFC stores after complaints
A teen who was repeatedly raped by her shift supervisor while at work is still struggling with anxiety and depression 18 months after the traumatic experience.
A recent spate of sexual assault and harassment complaints from young female staff dating back to 2015 has prompted parent company Restaurant Brands to launch a review into the culture of its Pizza Hut and KFC stores across New Zealand.
In one of the worst cases, a Pizza Hut employee, then 17, was raped three times in the space of a fortnight by her shift supervisor Dilbagh ‘Sonny’ Singh while they prepared for the day’s trading in mid-2018.
The teen had only been working at the store for two months.
The Christchurch teen, now 19, was initially too afraid to report the assaults.
Restaurant Brands has launched a review into its Pizza Hut and KFC stores following a recent spate of sexual assault and harassment complaints from young female staff(stock image)
‘I was mostly scared that no-one would believe me because I was new to the company, and he told me I would lose my job,’ she told Stuff.
The teen claimed she later received explicit texts from an unknown phone, asking for sex and saying Singh hinted she would welcome any advances.
When the restaurant’s manager found out, the teen said she was discouraged from reporting it as she ‘had no evidence’ and should ‘leave it as it happened so long ago.’
The teen reported the attacks to police in January and resigned from Pizza Hut shortly afterwards following a ‘botched and heartless’ internal investigation by Restaurant Brands.
The teen says she still struggles with depression and anxiety after she was raped by her Pizza Hut shift supervisor. He was sentenced to jail last week (stock image)
In November Singh was convicted of three counts of rape and sentenced to nine years and six months in jail.
The teen has launched a formal complaint with the Human Rights Commission.
It will review Restaurant Brands’ handling of the case, which refused to relocate the teen to another store, and initially refused to give her any leave, while Singh was stood down on full pay.
The teen says she still struggles with depression and anxiety.
‘I can’t even put it into words how they made me feel,’ she told Stuff.
‘All over again I was being treated like I was nothing. I meant nothing. It made me feel like coming forward was not the right thing to do.’
Parent company Restaurant Brands has come under fire for the culture in its Pizza Hut and KFC stores across New Zealand (stock image)
She’s one of three complainants who have launched formal sexual harassment claims with the Human Rights Commission against Restaurant Brands this year.
One young KFC employee claimed her manager made comments about her looks and parts of her body, texted her outside of work, and lied about being married while another Restaurant Brands employee claimed her shift supervisor would touch her buttocks as he walked past her.
He is still an assistant manager at a Restaurant Brands outlet, despite similar allegations made prior of touching another female employee.
Restaurant Brands has since offered a face to face apology to the teen who was raped by Singh and says it’s undertaking an external review to ensure its policies and procedures reflect current best practice.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Restaurant Brands for comment.