Peter Meehan out at LA Times

It wasn’t that long ago that the Los Angeles Times announced that Peter Meehan would head its revamped and expanded food section. Just a little more than one year since he assumed his duties, Meehan has resigned his post as editor after claims that he created a toxic work environment.

The departure comes after freelance writer Tammie Teclemariam alleged that Meehan exhibited abusive behavior during his tenure at the paper and while running the late food magazine Lucky Peach. She said Meehan did not understand LA food culture, often called his employees at inappropriate times for minor issues, did not reach out to writers of color other than to “tokenize” them, and while at Lucky Peach, harassed female Asian employees “with everything from belittling and berating them to physical intimidation *just* short of assault.”

Other writers verified Teclemariam’s allegations. Rachel Khong, who worked at Lucky Peach from 2011 to 2016, said that Meehan made casual racist and misogynist comments and that workers were subjected to bullying, manipulation, and belittling. Ben Mims, a food writer at the Times, said that employees working under Meehan “had to adapt to working in a hostile, abusive environment, and over the past year, it all became normalized. I personally became numb to the mistreatment and like many of my colleagues, expected it at every turn.”

In an email, Hillary Manning, a spokeswoman for the Times, disputed some of Ms. Teclemariam’s claims, such as Meehan’s alleged $300,000 salary, which she said was “grossly inflated” from his actual pay. As to the complaints of staff members, she said the paper was taking them seriously and that “the matter will be thoroughly reviewed.”