Dirk Hackbarth, a Boston University professor of finance, is facing backlash after leaving a one-star Yelp review for Café ArtScience, a Cambridge restaurant, in which he targeted the physical appearance of several employees.
In the original review, which has since been edited and subsequently deleted, Hackbarth referred to the restaurant general manager, Mark Grande, as the “fat guy,” and to the bar director, Tenzin Samdo, as the “Asian cool skinny dude,” according to a blog post about the incident written by Patrick Maguire, an author and blogger who runs the service industry advocacy blog “I’m Your Server Not Your Servant.”
Kenneth Freeman, the dean of the Questrom School of Business which employs Hackbarth, released a statement shortly after the incident in which he said the school administrators were disappointed by the review and that it does not reflect the school’s views and values.
“We are aware of an inappropriate Yelp review posted by a member of our faculty,” Freeman posted, according to The Boston Globe article. “It does not represent our views and values. We are extremely disappointed by this occurrence.”
Hackbarth did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Samdo served Hackbarth during his time at the restaurant last Saturday. Hackbarth had arrived nearly an hour late for his reservation, Samdo told The Daily Free Press, and thus had to wait at the bar, as his table was no longer available due to the restaurant’s business.
As the night went on, Samdo said, Hackbarth grew increasingly hostile, directing insults at Grande, criticizing the menu choices and complaining about the lack of available seating. Hackbarth threatened Samdo with writing a bad Yelp review, with which he later followed through.
“He started saying the last thing you want to say to a restaurant worker — he threatened me with a Yelp review,” Samdo said. “Those are like the worst things you can say to a restaurant worker. We are hard-working people … but he kept threatening me and I just smiled at him. That’s my job.”
Samdo said it was hard for him to focus on his other customers that night because of Hackbarth’s behavior. Eventually, Grande told Hackbarth to leave the restaurant.
“At a point, my general manager told him you no longer have a reservation, you have to leave,” Samdo said, “and things got a lot smoother.”
Samdo said he felt inclined to share the story once he saw the highly offensive nature of Hackbarth’s Yelp post. Samdo said he was especially hurt when he learned Hackbarth was a professor at BU.
“[When] I found out he was a professor, that was crazy. That broke my heart — that crushed me,” Samdo said. “I love teaching people. I taught at least 200 bartenders in the city. They look up to me.”
When he shared his experience online, Samdo said, he was not looking to get Hackbarth in trouble, but instead wanted to spread the message that people should be respectful toward restaurant workers.
“I don’t want to get him in trouble or get him fired from his job,” Samdo said. “That is not what I’m looking for as a result. What I’m looking for is just [to show] that it’s not right. It is morally wrong to treat people badly.”
Several BU students said they disapproved of Hackbarth’s comments and feel there should be some form of repercussions for his actions, even though the incident happened while he wasn’t at work.
Ellicia Chiu, a freshman in the Questrom School of Business, said she thinks Hackbarth, as a professor, should not have written what he did in the Yelp review.
“I don’t think it’s okay for a professor, who’s a role model for a lot of students, to be talking in this fashion — especially in public,” Chiu said. “Even in private, they shouldn’t be saying these kinds of things.”
Olivia Galarza, a sophomore in the College of General Studies, said she thinks Hackbarth acted unprofessionally and that he should have been more careful with what he posted online.
“I think it’s pretty disgusting. He’s supposed to be influencing young students and I don’t think it’s very professional,” Galarza said. “BU should definitely talk about his influence on us as students [and how] you should be careful [of what] you put out there because the internet is public and everyone can see it.”
Estill Loyd, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she thinks Hackbarth should be punished for his remarks and that it calls to question how he treats his students.
“Obviously there’s such a thing as free speech, but from a purely ethical perspective it seems wrong to let him get away with that,” Loyd said. “He should be punished in some way, shape or form. That’s not okay. Who knows how he treats his students if he’s saying those things.”
