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Anonymous Group Shares Stories of Workplace Toxicity in Eugene, Springfield Service Industry

Esther Lin
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Employees across the country have turned to social media to create what is called an 86'd List account to share their stories of workplace toxicity. Locally, a Eugene and Springfield-based account is sharing the experiences of local employees. 

The term 86'd is used in the service industry to describe a customer who employees are unwilling to serve because of their behavior. Now, employees are using the term to show their unwillingness to put up with poor working environments. 

In a message to KLCC, the anonymous group wrote the account is managed by queer and community members of color in Eugene who currently work in the service industry.

They said they are not promoting cancel culture, and are not asking people to stop visiting those establishments. The group wrote it is sharing these stories to allow for public accountability, and change.

“It is not our agenda to have these businesses ‘cancelled,’” wrote the group. “Cancel Culture can be dangerous considering we believe people and the workplace environment can change.”

In Eugene and Springfield, service industry workers are allowed to anonymously submit their stories about unfair wages, inequality, sexism, racism, and other abuses. So far, the Instagram page has accounts from employees at roughly 30 local businesses.  

“We believe people in power within the service industry should be held accountable for their actions,” the group wrote. “Many times, these instances are ‘handled’ by [human resources] and they do not do a sufficient job in changing the environment. We want to bring these injustices to light as many people cannot or will not bring it up to the proper channels for fear of retaliation, and the dismissive culture of management.”

Local service industry workers can message the account with their experiences in a toxic work environment. The story is then shared anonymously on the group's Instagram page. 

“We strive to be thorough and objective in our passage of information; we do not wish to muckrake or slander, we want to publicize these injustices so that the places with these allegations can address them and change the way they operate,” wrote the group.

Despite backlash in the comment section of some of the posts, the group wrote they do not plan to take down any of the stories, unless requested by the person who wrote the allegations.

“We are not private investigators, nor are we in the mindset of victim blaming,” wrote the group. “We trust that those who have been abused will come forth honestly about their experiences. These stories are posted on a public forum which allows others to respond with their own accounts, whether to refute or corroborate. This is for transparency.”

The account also lists resources for reporting harassment. For more information about the group, you can visit 86'd - List Eugene/Springfield (@86dlist_eugene) on Instagram.

Elizabeth Gabriel is a former KLCC Public Radio Foundation Journalism Fellow. She is an education reporter at WFYI in Indianapolis.
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