Harassment accusers want chef to sever tie to restaurants

Facing a room full of TV news cameras at the Oakland Marriott on Tuesday at 10 a.m., nine former employees of Oakland chef Charlie Hallowell held a news conference calling on him to divest completely from his restaurants in the wake of allegations of serial sexual harassment.

An hour later, the same TV crews carried their cameras to a law office a half a block away for a news conference by the Hallowell restaurant group — which includes Pizzaiolo, Boot & Shoe Service and Penrose in Oakland — announced the evening before. There, Hallowell lawyer Yasmeen Omidi said the company had just hired a new chief operating officer who would take over all company operations for six months while Hallowell steps away.

In December, The Chronicle reported that 17 women had said Hallowell had been harassing female employees for years.

During the first press conference, the alleged victims stood in a row while three of them took turns speaking.

“If you are asking why now it’s because you are only now listening,” said Jessica Moncada, a former Boot & Shoe Service bartender.

Through tears, she added, “Please know that this process has been terrifying and invasive and time consuming. There have been attempts to bully and smear us, but we will not be intimidated.”

The group prepared their statement with civil rights attorney Mika Hilaire, who said the women made claims of Hallowell’s “repeatedly making sexual advances” and “inappropriately touching” as well as making “disgusting and sexually lewd comments about women.”

Hilaire added, “This type of conduct is not new in the restaurant industry. We are hoping that this case not only helps the current employees at Hallowell’s restaurants but also helps the restaurant industry as a whole.”

Later, at the law offices of Wendel Rosen Black & Dean, Omidi announced that the restaurant company’s new chief operating officer, Donna Insalaco, would eventually become part owner, taking over some of Hallowell’s shares in the company. Insalaco was previously vice president of operations at Rubicon Bakery.

Omidi said that attorney Maureen Bogue had completed a sexual harassment investigation that involved interviews with 55 employees, the results of which would be put into a report in the future. She also said that when Hallowell returns, he will take on a “creative capacity” at the company rather than a management role.

“Charlie has acknowledged that his behavior was hurtful and inappropriate,” said Omidi. When asked whether he acknowledged that he had sexually harassed employees, Omidi only repeated that Hallowell acknowledged that he behaved in an inappropriate way.

“This is not to diminish any pain that any employee has experienced or felt in this process,” Omidi said. “But what Charlie is doing is also a difficult process, and I think it’s one that should be encouraged.”

Part of that process, Omidi said, was to take part in restorative justice, a nonpunitive way of seeking reconciliation between victims and those they say have wronged them.

“We have no understanding what ‘restorative justice’ means to Charlie,” said Molly Surbridge, who spoke for the group of eight to 10 women that Hilaire represents. “We believe that typically the restorative justice process is a lengthy one where counselors work with victims for months before having them confront their harassers. Since we have zero understanding of the process, timeline or who the facilitators would be, we would have to pass.”