











Photo: Photo: John Storey / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Image 2 of 4 Diners at Coqueta. Diners at Coqueta. Photo: John Storey / The Chronicle Image 3 of 4 The bar at Coqueta. The bar at Coqueta. Photo: John Storey / The Chronicle Image 4 of 4 The dining room at Coqueta. The dining room at Coqueta. Photo: John Storey / The Chronicle Read the full lawsuits in the Michael Chiarello sexual harassment case 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

High profile Bay Area chefhas found himself at the center of two highly explosive lawsuits filed by two former female servers at his Embarcadero restaurant,

Lawsuits filed Tuesday, March 15, on behalf of Katherine Page and Asja Sever allege that the chef, along with members of his management team, engaged in sexual harassment and refusal to pay employees their due wages.

Chiarello’s spokesman Terry Fahn has called the allegations “unfounded” and “against his core beliefs” and that the chef intends to “vigorously defend himself.”

Among the more shocking claims in the lawsuit are that Chiarello allegedly told managers at Coqueta to use the hiring policy: “If you don’t want to f— them, don’t hire them.” The lawsuit also accuses other other managers and chefs at the restaurant of inappropriate touching and comments, to say the least.

Chiarello’s restaurants, Yountville’s Bottega and the Spanish-inspired Coqueta, have been regulars on The Chronicle’s Top 100 Restaurants list.

You can read the full lawsuits below (warning: the lawsuits include explicit language):