By Laura Yuen

Copyright startribune

After the restaurant closed last year, the local union filed a labor complaint. In July, the National Labor Relations Board conditionally dismissed claims from Unite Here Local 17 alleging Kim’s company violated federal laws aimed to protect workers from organizing. An investigation found that while there was some “arguable merit” to some of the union’s claims, they were limited in scope. The allegations will be dismissed unless a similar complaint comes forward before January.

The president of Local 17 declined to comment on the board’s decision.

Kim, 52, is left to pick up the pieces and ponder her future while facing a double standard that women, especially women of color, are held to when they make tough business decisions. It leaves some of us wondering: Would she have been canceled if she were a man?

Consider the diverging fate of chef Daniel del Prado. The restaurateur took a similar path as Kim, closing all four of his Cafe Cerés locations this year after his staff voted to unionize. In many circles, abruptly closing shop before negotiating with workers on a contract is seen as union-busting. But del Prado continues to build his empire. He’s on his way to starting up no less than four new restaurants in the area.

Kim declined to be interviewed for this story. Other restaurateurs and small business owners have told me privately they believe that misogyny, and perhaps low-key racism, helped fuel the backlash against her.

Some of the criticism seemed comically cruel. Gaggles of protesters have repeatedly descended on Kim’s restaurants this year with their megaphones and signs to take a stand against foie gras. But Kim doesn’t serve foie gras. Activists are attacking her ties to Omni Hotel; Kim developed the menu at Kyndred Hearth at the Omni Viking Lakes hotel in Eagan … which also does not serve the dish.