After ‘ignorant’ initial response, Viking Food tries to answer social media rage
Bellingham food home delivery company Viking Food finds itself at the middle of a social media fire storm this week after reports surfaced that the background of a driver the company contracted with allegedly included sexual assault.
After the company made a misstep with a social media response that co-owner Kyle Mattox admits was “ignorant,” Viking Food has sought counsel from a local domestic and sexual victims services organization, severed ties with the driver and is attempting to take steps to begin rebuilding public trust.
“We hope people understand that we are trying hard,” Mattox told The Bellingham Herald Friday, Dec. 13. “We’re truly dedicated to having a positive influence. We want to learn from this experience and grow.”
Trouble began for Viking Food after social media posts began to circulate that the company was employing a driver who the posts said sexually assaulted a woman and allegedly bragged to another that he could have had sexual relationships with other food servers in his role as a delivery driver.
Posts also said that community members found out about the driver’s alleged past and voiced their concerns over having the driver possibly come into their homes while working for Viking Food last summer.
The posts went on to call for a boycott of Viking Food’s delivery services, citing the company’s decision to suspend, then continue using the driver despite knowing about the allegations, reportedly putting customers’ safety at risk.
The driver, who was named in the social media posts, does not have any criminal court records in Whatcom County Superior or District courts, according to court records. He also does not have any criminal case records in the state of Washington.
The Bellingham Herald asked the Bellingham Police Department on Wednesday, Dec. 11, if any reports have been filed against the driver, but has not yet received a response to that request.
Viking’s first response
On Tuesday, Dec. 10, Viking Food responded to community concerns with a Facebook post — a step Mattox now says he wishes the company had delayed.
“We decided to make a statement to respond,” Mattox told The Herald. “I believe our intentions were good, but we were ignorant in how we perceived the situation and we made a response that was ignorant.”
In short, the post stated that the company already was doing criminal background checks on drivers it contracted with, that it suspended the driver when it was made aware of the sexual assault allegations against him and that they found no record of criminal activity against the driver.
The Viking Food post also said that it was aware that talk about the driver’s alleged background had resurfaced and it welcomed any new information to come forward.
“We are open to having a conversation with the person who may be alleging rape,” the Viking Food post read. “If you have any information about the situation, we would recommend contacting the policing authorities and submitting any evidence you may have to them, as well as sharing the information with us via private message, or telephone.”
That comment only fanned the social media flames.
“Looking back, we really should have sought counsel before we made that comment,” Mattox told The Herald. “It came across as we didn’t believe what people were saying, and that is a mistake we are trying to own. It came across as we were trying to get the victim to prove her story. That’s not what we were trying to do, but I see now that is how it looks. ...
“Basically, we panicked, and we didn’t handle it well.”
Not only did more and more people call for a boycott of Viking Food, but a number of local eateries Viking worked with suspended their partnerships, including The Racket — Bar & Pinball Lounge, The Shakedown and Old World Deli.
Viking’s second response
As Viking Food watched social media continue to spiral around it, Mattox said the company began to realize it needed to make changes — not only to what it said and did, but to how it thought.
The company enlisted the counsel of Whatcom County’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services (DVSAS) to help it better understand the reasons behind the community’s outrage, the seriousness of the allegations and why the company’s first response was so far off base.
“In our attempt to explain why (the driver) was reinstated, our response was tone-deaf, defensive, and callous,” a Viking Food Facebook post on Thursday, Dec. 12, read. “We apologize for the way we handled the situation and to our customers, who expected us to be better. We have let our community down, and you deserve better from us.”
The post went on to say that Viking Food owners would receive training from DVSAS to help them better understand how to handle similar situations if they arise and set up a way for customers to reach the owners and inform them of any future concerns.
“The people at DVSAS are kind people who are very knowledgeable and really want to help,” Mattox told The Herald. “It’s been a very positive experience for all of us, and it’s going to be very helpful going forward.
“I think we learned to take things like this much more serious. We’ve all received more education on how to handle this kind of situation.”
Mattox said Viking Food also is rerunning background checks on all its contracted drivers, and a Facebook post Friday, Dec. 13, said the company plans to run new checks every three months.
Friday’s post also addressed an additional “rumor” that another Viking Food driver had been arrested in 2018. The post said that driver worked for Viking Food North, which was a separate company at the time, and that the driver was not brought over when the two companies merged, “because he did not meet our standards.”
Repairing the damage
Mattox said Viking Food began delivering in 2013 and has seen great growth since then, and is beginning to expand its services to outside Bellingham. The company’s website currently lists nearly 100 area restaurants and food companies with which it partners.
But after the last week, Mattox said he realizes it’s going to take time to repair the damage to Viking Food’s image done in the past week.
“We know it’s not going to happen overnight,” Mattox told The Herald. “We are prepared to meet the challenges that come up.”
Mattox said he hoped the companies that had decided to leave Viking Food in the past week will decide to come back, but he said he knows it also could be difficult to re-earn customers’ trust.
“Response has been mixed so far,” Mattox told The Herald. “Some people are understandably skeptical. They’re not going to trust us at our word, but we hope we can prove that we have learned from this and we have changed through the steps that we take.”
Resources
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or sexual assault, you can contact the following local resources for free, confidential support:
▪ Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services: 24-hour Help Line: 360-715-1563, Email: info@dvsas.org.
▪ Lummi Victims of Crime: 360-312-2015.
▪ Bellingham Police: You can call anonymously at 360-778-8611, or go online at cob.org/tips.
▪ WWU Consultation and Sexual Assault Support Survivor Advocacy Services: 360-650-3700 or wp.wwu.edu/sexualviolence/.
This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 11:38 AM.
