‘Ate in the gutter’: Ex-employee exposes workplace policy at Aussie swimwear brand
An Australian woman has exposed how her dream job quickly turned into a nightmare after she learnt about the company’s strict food rules.
A former employee of a cult-favourite swimwear brand has called out the company for a hardline workplace policy which allegedly prevented staff from consuming animal products within the office.
Elke Westerveld, who worked for the brand for eight months from 2018 to 2019, said that it’s a story she has been “waiting to share for six years”.
During her time there, she said she and her colleagues resorted to eating their lunches outside in the rain, in gutters, or in their cars if their meals contained animal products.
After a “meat policy” contract was circulated and an unpleasant encounter occurred between Ms Westerveld and her boss, she decided to resign.
A few years later, and now a successful businesswoman, she chose to share her story on TikTok to give hope to people who might be in a similar situation.
Although she didn’t explicitly name the brand, commenters – some of whom also worked there – identified it as Lahi Swim, formerly known as Lahana Swimwear.
Vrindy Benson, the Gold Coast-based CEO and co-founder of the swimwear brand, has since addressed the situation, telling Ms Westerveld, “don’t sign up to work for a brand that has strong core values”.
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Speaking to news.com.au exclusively, Ms Westerveld described getting her “dream role” in 2018 at her dream company, of which she had been a massive fan.
At the time, it was a small business with roughly eight staff members, three of whom were family members with devout Hare Krishna beliefs.
However, Ms Westerveld stated that she had no idea the founder’s personal beliefs influenced the company’s policies and workplace culture.
“They didn’t tell me anything about it when I was hired,” said Ms Westerveld, who worked as a Marketing and Brand Coordinator and also helped design some of the products.
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After bringing her meal prep turkey mince and rice to work, she was surprised when a colleague told her she “can’t have that” because it contained meat.
She checked with management, who confirmed there was indeed a rule about meat that was based on their beliefs.
She was confused as the office had “15 pairs of leather boots” for a runway event at one point, but decided to comply with the rule as she was new to the job and enjoyed it.
For weeks, she brought meat alternatives like tempeh and tofu to work to appease her bosses.
However, she began to realise she was wasting food and money since she would cook meat for dinner but couldn’t bring the leftovers to work.
The rest of the team, who were not family members, also ate meat and would often leave together to get takeaway from places like Guzman Y Gomez.
With only a 30-minute break, it was difficult for them to drive there, eat, and come back, especially as they worked in an isolated industrial area.
Eventually, the team grew tired of buying takeaway and wasting food, so they started bringing their own meals but would leave them in their cars in an Esky each morning.
At midday, they would get their food from their cars and sit on the side of the road to eat, often getting wet when it rained because there wasn’t much cover around.
Occasionally, they resorted to eating in their cars.
As the weeks went on, Ms Westerveld said the women grew increasingly frustrated with this arrangement and raised their concerns with management, who allegedly told them there was “nothing they could do”.
Shortly after, she claims the team was given a form titled “Meat Policy,” which employees were required to sign or they would face warnings that could lead to dismissal.
“It said that you couldn’t bring in meat and dairy products or even cake that had egg in it, and there would be consequences,” explained Ms Westerveld.
However, she didn’t believe the form was legally binding. “It was just something they had typed up - it even had typos,” she noted in her TikTok.
All the other women were apparently scared and signed it, but Ms Westerveld refused because she thought it was ethically wrong.
“I didn’t want to feel threatened in my role because of my food choices,” she explained.
Although she didn’t sign the form and faced some backlash, the situation eventually subsided - at least for a while.
“One day, I brought my turkey mince and left it in my car. I had avocado in the fridge, so I mashed the avocado inside the office with a fork. I then walked out in the rain to my car, put the avocado on my mince, and started eating in my front seat.
“Suddenly, I saw one of the co-owners come out with an umbrella. She leaned against my car and said to me, ‘Is that our fork?’
“I replied, ‘Yep,’ and she said, ‘I can’t believe you’re using our fork.’ I was genuinely concerned because I thought I had done everything right. I was eating in my car; I didn’t bring the meat inside. I didn’t know what I had done wrong.
“She then said, ‘I can’t believe you’re eating meat with our fork. That is so disrespectful, and I don’t think you understand what you’ve done’.”
Ms Westerveld apologised and even offered to replace the fork, but the co-owner, who was Ms Benson’s sister, declined and walked off, visibly angry and disappointed.
Not only was she eating turkey that had been left in the back seat of her car all morning, but she was shocked that she was forbidden from using the office cutlery to do so.
At that moment, she made a decision. She realised that this was not an environment she wanted to be part of, and she was done.
She submitted her resignation three days later.
“It was really quite traumatic for me, and I’m not going to lie. I quit without having another job lined up. I had no money. I was so upset. That was my dream role, and I just couldn’t believe this had happened. But I couldn’t mentally sustain that environment any longer.”
Her video quickly went viral, attracting thousands of comments about the situation.
“Glad you got out,” one person wrote.
“This is wild,” wrote another, while a third person called it “insane.”
“Nothing prepared me for this story!” someone else admitted.
“I did an internship there and immediately knew exactly who you were talking about. I loved having to eat my lunch outside in the gutter every day. 10/10 would recommend,” a former employee sarcastically commented.
Among the comments, there were several replies from Ms Benson, which have since been deleted.
However, one of her comments remains, which read: “Don’t sign up to work for a brand that has strong core values around a cruelty-free space, with no harm to women, children, or animals within that space. No one forces you to work with a brand.”
In a TikTok posted on Ms Benson’s account two days after Ms Westerveld’s video went live, she says she isn’t afraid of being labelled “crazy” for creating a brand with a “heart-centred mission”.
In another one just a day later, she encourages business owners to have the “courage” to build a work culture that is so deeply rooted in your values “that no one can shake it.”
She later shared a statement with news.com.au admitting that if she could go back in time, she would do things “differently.”
“We had a vegetarian policy in place within the HQ for religious and cultural reasons,” she explained.
“While our intentions came from a place of love, we recognise that not everyone experienced it that way.
“I am far from perfect and have made many mistakes in this lifetime. We have loved and tried our absolute best over the years with all our employees, and if we could go back in time, we would do things differently.
“We are growing and learning along this journey as well, as a mother, boss, sister, daughter, and friend.
“For now, keeping a positive and disciplined mindset is crucial for my goal. My driving passion and purpose is to help those around me.”
It is unclear whether the no-meat policy is still in place.
Ms Westerveld now runs her own business and says she’s grateful for the experience, as it taught her the importance of fostering a positive workplace environment.
“It was a valuable lesson about what not to do,” she said, “and now everything is accepted in our office. There are no regulations or restrictions regarding food, religion, or any other aspect - it’s a safe space.”
“At that time, I genuinely thought, ‘What am I going to do with my life?’ and I felt really upset. If you’re currently in an environment where you’re not happy and feel like it’s not right for you, I encourage you to leave. Deep down, you know if it’s the right space for you.”
She wants to remind people that there’s always “a light at the end of the tunnel.”
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