certainly many chefs have acted improperly and abusively, and many people have the right to feel abused. I do think that there are many instances where staff deserve some kind of reprimand, not a coach and concill, or repeated handholding instruction/direction, feel good human resource type of action. When these usually junior staff feel the heat or can't keep up they begin to cry "chef is mean and abusive" if a runner is working 12's then fair bet the chef's pulling down 15's and he/she's got everyone staff, ownership,clients, critics,and thier peers judging and waiting for a mistake to put under the microscope. It takes a lot of work to get to that spot and then several more years to learn to do the job properly which includes treating people with dignity and respect.
Obviously if people are breaking laws or being physically abusive it is wrong on many levels,however, don't play the victim and then place blame on a "POSITION". It only creates stereotypes and predjutices that make an incredibly difficult position harder.
Maybe I'm a little off topic, but, bashing chefs, and managers seems to easy and convinient theese days, remember this can be an incredibly grey area, I've seen staff truely be disrespectlful and difficult only because they can if it's done in a underhanded manner
In closing, cooks in my brigade, are always expected to scrape, stack, and otherwise help the "dish monkeys" any possible way that they can, either by
getting a round of cold drinks, hauling some garbage or getting in and scrubbing the nastys! myself included