Months after facing allegations of racism, a prominent Burlington art gallery has apologized for conduct by a former manager that it says fell short of the organization’s goals for workplace inclusion.
The apology from Frog Hollow Vermont Craft Gallery came after an independent investigator found that Misoo Bang — an artist and former employee who accused the gallery of discriminating against her in a December Instagram post — experienced treatment “inconsistent with Frog Hollow’s commitment to an inclusive and welcoming environment,” said Carol MacDonald, president of the organization’s board.
But while the investigator substantiated some of Bang’s claims against Rachel Teachout — the former manager — the conduct did not meet the threshold of discrimination under the law, said Beth Danon, a lawyer for Frog Hollow.
Danon said the report did not find evidence that the manager harassed Bang or took actions that adversely affected her employment, such as demoting or firing her.
“What we’re saying is, ‘Yeah, some of these comments were not a good thing. But it didn’t rise to the level of harassment or discrimination,’” Danon told VTDigger.
Danon defined the legal threshold of harassment as conduct “so severe or pervasive that it’s seen by a reasonable person as causing a workplace that is hostile or abusive.”
To support the argument that Teachout’s alleged behavior was not harassment, Danon pointed to a statement by Bang in Seven Days, where Bang said she believed Teachout intended for the comments to be a joke.
“Sometimes joking is fine, and sometimes joking hurts feelings,” Danon said. “You just have to be careful.”
Frog Hollow commissioned the investigation into Bang’s claims after her grievances became public on social media. Bang had previously corresponded with the organization’s board members for months, asking them to implement diversity and inclusion training.
The report produced by the independent investigator relied on interviews with 15 current and former Frog Hollow employees, artists and board members, according to MacDonald, the board president. The organization cannot release it publicly because the testimony was gathered confidentially, Danon said.
In a Facebook post last week, Frog Hollow republished an apology MacDonald sent to Bang.
“On behalf of Frog Hollow, I am sorry — and disappointed — about your experience at Frog Hollow and assure you that Frog Hollow is committed to supporting a diverse, inclusive and equitable work environment in which no one should feel unsafe, unwelcome, or degraded,” MacDonald wrote in the March 3 post.
According to the message, the organization is updating its policies to clarify how workers can air grievances to senior management, and instituting “diversity, inclusion and discrimination” training for employees.
MacDonald also said that Teachout, the former manager, no longer works at the Church Street shop.
Danon, the attorney, did not clarify whether Teachout had left or was fired. The former manager took a vacation in January and did not return to the organization, Danon said.
The investigator’s report was not completed until mid-February, Danon told VTDigger, though the lawyer who worked on it was in communication with Danon about her findings throughout the process.
A lawyer for Teachout, Bernie Lambek, told VTDigger that — while Teachout will not return to working at Frog Hollow — “it’s an open question legally whether she’s still an employee on leave, or whether she’s not.” The two parties are trying to negotiate a settlement over whether Frog Hollow owes Teachout any more money, he said.
Bang, who is Korean, said she was the target of numerous racist comments by Teachout, spurring her to quit her associate manager position at the gallery.
In her Instagram post, Bang — who is now an art educator — described multiple incidents where Teachout linked her to Asian stereotypes, including one where Teachout allegedly told Bang that she dressed up as a pregnant “Chinese slut” for Halloween and the manager’s boyfriend as a U.S. soldier.
On another occasion, Bang said, Teachout allegedly told Bang that her “exotic looks” helped boost the gallery’s sales.
Bang did not respond to a request by VTDigger to comment for this story.
Lambek, Teachout’s lawyer, denied all of Bang’s claims about the former manager. He also said — despite not having access to the investigator’s report — that it could not substantiate any of the claims Bang made about Teachout on social media.
Danon, however, challenged Lambek’s assertion, and said that some of Bang’s allegations were found credible. She declined to specify which claims were substantiated.
The Burlington Free Press reported in January that the Vermont Attorney General’s Office planned to launch its own investigation into Bang’s discrimination claims.
Danon said she was not aware of any state-run investigation, nor had any current Frog Hollow employee been contacted by a state investigator.
Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Beth Danon’s surname.
