Increasingly indignant about the company’s response to revelations of sexual harassment under chef-owner Charlie Hallowell, current and former employees of his three popular Oakland restaurants are threatening resignations and a possible boycott.

Calling Hallowell “a symbol of what is toxic in the restaurant industry culture,” seven managers and chefs at his Oakland pizzeria Boot & Shoe Service said they will resign in protest Saturday unless Hallowell divests from that restaurant. Managers from Hallowell’s two other restaurants have not joined them in the action.

A Chronicle investigation published on Dec. 27 detailed 17 women’s accusations of sexual harassment against Hallowell, who responded by removing himself from his company’s day-to-day operations. The report has resulted in a series of corrective actions at Hallowell’s restaurants, which a company spokesman said Thursday will protect the livelihoods of 150 employees, and can be accomplished “without destructive actions like a boycott.”

Yet employees remain unsatisfied.

“Actively working to keep the business open while you are still a profit owner implicitly condones your behavior, trivializes the allegations brought against you and betrays our obligation to protect the financial and psychic well-being of our staff,” says the letter signed by the Boot & Shoe Service managers. “Furthermore, your continued ownership tarnishes the reputations of your employees and our standing in the community.”

Hallowell, 44, has not challenged the employees’ allegations and has expressed deep regret. He said he will remain behind the scenes while San Francisco attorney Allison Surowitz leads an investigation that has already included interviews with at least 30 employees. Though he no longer receives a salary, Hallowell remains a primary stakeholder in the company, which plans to open a new branch of Boot & Shoe Service in Berkeley on Feb. 1.

That financial arrangement has angered some employees. As pressure from them has mounted, Hallowell has begun communicating through crisis management consultant Larry Kamer.

“Charlie has stepped away from the business,” said Kamer, a self-described specialist in “managing difficult, public-facing challenges that affect reputations, brands and careers.” Kamer added, “He has directed Allison to make a sincere effort to find out what will satisfy these employees’ concerns and if there’s a workable solution.”

One group of current and former employees calling itself We Are More Than 17 says its main goal is for Hallowell to leave the restaurant group entirely. It also wants a copy of Surowitz’s final report to be made public, something the company said it would reject.

“As long as Hallowell is profiting from these businesses and remains in a position of power, no real accountability is taking place. We are unwavering in our pursuit of Hallowell’s divestment,” the group’s statement reads, ending with a request to boycott the restaurants until he does so.

Group member Karina Vlastnik, 29, has been a server at Boot & Shoe Service for four years but has not returned to work since late December, when the allegations came to light. She said her experience with Hallowell was similar to that of the women quoted in The Chronicle.

“I really feel a lot of heavy energy this week. I think it’s really sad,” she said. “I think all of the managers are going to have to resign on Saturday. If that is the case, I don’t feel emotionally comfortable being there. The only thing that could make me go back is if he divests.”

Kamer emphasizes that the company has taken swift action since the sexual harassment allegations became public.

According to Kamer, within days of The Chronicle’s Dec. 27 report, the company hired a human relations professional who specializes in restaurant policies and training, consulted with attorneys, and started an initial audit of its practices. On Jan. 9, the company began a series of training sessions for managers focusing on sexual harassment.

Consultants are expected to complete a “top-to-bottom audit” of current policies and procedures by next week. The employee manual is also being updated, Kamer said. On Monday, attorney Surowitz will hold three all-staff meetings, where employees will have 90 minutes to ask questions. She said such sessions will continue in the coming weeks.

Kamer said the Boot & Shoe Service managers and chefs’ demands that Hallowell cease to profit from the restaurant are being taken into consideration as part of a “negotiation.” He also noted that the employees who are organized and unhappy “represent a small minority” of the employees at all three restaurants.

As part of the #MeToo movement, which encouraged many of Hallowell’s alleged victims to speak out, many current and former Hallowell employees have taken note of the way similar allegations of sexual harassment were handled at the San Francisco coffee company Four Barrel.

After The Chronicle reported that employees had filed suit against Four Barrel and co-owner Jeremy Tooker for sexual assault and harassment, Tooker left the company within days. The remaining owners announced they would gradually shift the business to entirely employee-owned.

“What we are looking for is some promise that (Hallowell) is not going to be the owner of the restaurant and that he’s going to step away permanently and completely,” said Boot & Shoe Service general manager Emily Hayward.

Sydni Skorich, who worked as a host and server at Boot & Shoe Service from February 2013 until last month, is among those who are unsatisfied with Hallowell’s apology and believe accountability has to include a financial hit.

“He keeps asking for a second chance and to be shown the right way, but he’s had thousands of chances, so many people have warned him that he’s going to get in trouble,” Skorich, 26, said.

Skorich, who now works at another restaurant, said she has attended meetings of the We Are More Than 17 group to help her former co-workers, who are now facing a business slowdown and difficulty finding other jobs.

Hallowell, meanwhile, has stayed out of the public eye, saying through Kamer that he is in therapy and trying to remove himself from the daily lives of the restaurant workers.

When asked if employees might also receive therapy, Kamer said, “I’m not aware they have asked for it, but I think the company would certainly be willing to pay for it, sure.”

Tara Duggan and Karen de Sá are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com, kdesa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan