Casa Bonita Performers Are Being Assaulted ‘Almost Daily’

Who would have thought that cops chasing down Eric Cartman would end up being one of the less dramatic moments in the history of Casa Bonita?  

As we recently mentioned, the newly-unionized performers at Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s giant pink Colorado restaurant – including character actors, divers and puppeteers – went on strike this week.   

“Casa Bonita management failed to deliver responses in contract bargaining that would move unionized workers towards a fair contract and a resolution to their outstanding Unfair Labor Practices charge,” a statement on the Casa Bonita Instagram page announced, referencing to the restaurant’s allegedly illegal decision to eliminate certain jobs for the month of October.  

A big part of the workers' fight involves their desire to be paid a living wage. As Denver's 9NEWS pointed out, some Casa Bonita performers make as little as “$21 per hour,” even though the “living wage calculator puts living in Denver at over $30 per hour.” 

But another key issue is safety. The GoFundMe page for the striking workers attests that Casa Bonita has “ignored safety concerns,” including those involving the restaurant’s trademark cliff divers. “Management refuses to implement a certified aquatic safety plan – a standard in every professional aquatic facility,” the page explains. “They have fought for and personally provided their own safety measures, from rescue equipment to training, because management wouldn’t.”

"Safety is not negotiable. Safety comes first, and that is the end of the question and a lot of those things, legally, they just need to be providing and doing," one Casa Bonita performer told CBS News. 

This is especially surprising considering that ¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!, the documentary about Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s renovation of the restaurant, made a big deal about their safety upgrades, including those protecting divers. But ensuring that employees won’t be electrocuted clearly isn’t the only safety measure that should be required. 

It’s not just the divers who have serious safety concerns. Striking Casa Bonita performer Brandi Lyons told Denverite that she “wants management to take action to protect performers from being touched, groped and assaulted by patrons.”

“We were filling out incident reports for sexual assault almost daily,” Lyons revealed. “It's really sad that the gorillas have a motto… ‘Once you get your butt grabbed, you're officially a gorilla,’ because it happens so often.”

Not wanting to be fondled by drunken assholes on a regular basis, while being paid enough money to afford food and rent, sure doesn’t sound like the most outlandish demand.