Bay Area celebrity chef faces sexual harassment lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Two new lawsuits accuse a Bay Area celebrity chef of sexual harassment and labor violations. Michael Chiarello owns two restaurants in the Bay Area.

Two former servers at his restaurant Coqueta in San Francisco claim they had to endure inappropriate touching and comments by coworkers and supervisors.

They say Chiarello directed his managers not to hire women unless they wanted to have sex with them.

Another lawsuit accuses the restaurant of not paying employees all their wages, manipulating time clocks, and requiring employees to pool their tips.

ABC7 News has reached out to Chiarello's representatives. So far, they have not returned our request for comment.