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INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 71
©2020 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A

OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4A

CROSSWORD................6A

M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 A

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 A

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B
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School of Music, Theatre &
Dance junior Chloe Castro-
Santos was working at Sava’s, a
popular Ann Arbor restaurant, in
2018 when the head chef Gustavo
Salazar
Esquivel
allegedly
propositioned her for sex.
This was the summer after her
freshman year at the University
of Michigan, and he had just
helped her during a particularly
busy shift. She tried to thank
him for his assistance.
“I was like, ‘Thank you so
much for helping me today, really
appreciate it.’ And he was like, ‘I
helped you, so you help me.’ And
he alluded to oral sex,” Castro-
Santos said in an interview with
The Daily. “It traumatized me
because I was at work. I’m just
trying to make my rent and go
home.”
On July 28, 2018, Castro-
Santos emailed a resignation
letter to Sava’s management.
She
alleged
that
she
had
been
repeatedly
sexually
harassed while working in the
restaurant’s kitchen and that
Sava’s management, including
the
restaurant’s
owner
and
SavCo Hospitality CEO, Sava
Farah, had failed to address this.
“I have the upmost (sic)
respect
for
Sava
and
the
establishments she has built
from scratch and that is why it
was so heartbreaking to see what
was willingly condoned and even
on a certain level encouraged in
her restaurant,” Castro-Santos
wrote.
About one year after Castro-
Santos’s email, former Sava’s
employee Ghia Parow alleged
that Esquivel and a male cook
committed sexual misconduct
against her.

Parow posted on her Facebook
page about the incident. Before
she made the post private, it was
shared 628 times, with many
former employees sharing their
own stories of alleged sexual
harassment
and
misconduct
at Sava’s and Aventura, two
restaurants owned by SavCo
Hospitality.
Esquivel, who also goes by
“Gustavo Salazar,” according to
confidential Sava’s documents
obtained by The Daily, did not
respond to multiple messages
from
The
Daily
requesting
comment for this article.
“I think Gustavo was very
good at his job but I don’t think
that should matter,” Castro-
Santos said in an interview with
The Daily. “If you’re choosing
to give your money to this
company, you’re making a very
clear statement about what your
values are and whether you value
the quality of human life for
women.”
Sava’s is widely considered
a staple of the Ann Arbor food
scene. Last year, The Daily
ranked it as the “Best Romantic
Dinner” in its yearly Best of
Ann Arbor series. Aventura, a
Spanish
inspired-restaurant
and bar, and Wilma’s, a trendy,
health-minded cafe, are other
SavCo Hospitality-owned local
favorites.
An investigation by The Daily
uncovered numerous previously
undisclosed allegations of sexual
harassment
and
misconduct
from former Sava’s employees
against other employees since
June 2018. The allegations range
from sexually explicit verbal
statements to groping, unwanted
touching and propositions for
sex.
The Daily found evidence that
SavCo Hospitality management

was repeatedly made aware of
many of these allegations.
The Daily contacted Sava
Farah and SavCo Hospitality
requesting comment for this
article, and was referred to Chief
of Staff Janelle Zini.
“We are beyond disappointed
that an institution like the
Michigan Daily would engage
in
such
inaccurate
and
irresponsible reporting,” Zini
wrote in a statement to The
Daily. “These claims are so far
from the truth that it would be
absurd for us to respond. We
have no further comment and
are focused on continuing to
take care of our staff and guests.”
Zini
noted
that
SavCo
Hospitality could not turn over
more confidential employment
information,
citing
SavCo
Hospitality’s
obligations
as
employers.
Management disputed these
allegations to staff. In an email
to SavCo Hospitality employees
sent Tuesday evening, a copy
of which was obtained by The
Daily, Zini and SavCo Hospitality
Training & HR Manager Maggie
Jennings reiterated their belief
that they could not respond to
The Daily’s reporting.
“In
order
to
maintain
confidentiality of all parties
involved, SavCo is unable to
respond to these claims even
when every ounce of us wants
to take this opportunity to
illustrate the reality of each
of
these
mischaracterized
situations,” Jennings and Zini
wrote. “What we can say is
that we stand behind the way
any instances of misconduct or
harassment have been, and will
continue to be, handled and
addressed.”
The Daily was provided with
a statement from Laura Peretick,

a server at Sava’s for the past
seven and a half years. Peretick
is also president of the Employee
Experience Council, a group
that she wrote “gather(s) once a
month to discuss how to improve
the employee experience, and
create positive change in our
restaurants.”
Peretick said in her time
working at Sava’s, she never once
felt “unsafe.”
“I am very proud to work
at Sava’s, and to be a part of an
organization that truly cares
about it’s (sic) employees. My
immediate managers, as well as
upper management take our well
being very seriously,” Peretick
wrote in an emailed statement
to The Daily. “I have seen lives
transform here because Sava’s
gave them a chance. I have seen
countless times my managers
go above and beyond for my
co-workers.”
Peretick said she believed
Sava’s
handled
allegations
of
sexual
misconduct
with
integrity, adding that she was
involved with the investigation
into Parow’s allegations.
“This is not an organization
that
takes
sexual
assault
allegations
against
it’s
(sic)
people lightly,” Peretick wrote.
“To
say
that
management
mishandled the situation alleged
in the Facebook post, fueling your
article, is absolutely false. There
was a thorough investigation
that I personally was a part of.
I know all parties involved in
the claim very well and I solidly
stand behind Sava’s.”
Castro-Santos attributed the
disparity in experiences between
employees to a difference in
culture between the workers in
the front of the house — meaning
employees who interact with
customers — and the those in

back of the house, which includes
the kitchen.
In her first month working
at Sava’s in May 2018, Castro-
Santos
said
she
witnessed
occasional
sexually
explicit
verbal
statements,
though
she attributed this to kitchen
culture.
“I’d
worked
in
kitchens
before,”
Castro-Santos
said.
“Sexist stuff sometimes happens
in the kitchen because it usually
is a male-dominated field.”
However,
Castro-Santos
alleged the restaurant’s culture
worsened toward the beginning
of June 2018, with the arrival of
Esquivel.
Castro-Santos
alleged
that
an employee warned her about
what he thought Esquivel might
do to her.
“I was told by (an employee)
that I would be ‘if not groped
then at least verbally harassed,’”
Castro-Santos wrote in her July
28 email to Sava’s management.
She alleged in her email
that another male employee
repeatedly
verbally
harassed
her.
Management
from
the
restaurant,
Castro-Santos
alleged, repeatedly witnessed
these comments.
“(I)t became a joke on the line
that he would verbally harass
me daily. Everyone working in
the kitchen knew about it, but
nothing was ever actually done
about it,” Castro-Santos wrote
in her letter to management. “If I
were a man … I wouldn’t be given
demeaning nicknames.”
She alleged that she was
subjected to more than 20
instances of unwanted touching
from other employees while
working along the kitchen’s
narrow line in a six-hour shift.
“Men who worked there would
walk behind me,” Castro-Santos

told The Daily. “And when they
walked behind me, they would
always grab my waist.”
Three days after sending her
email, Castro-Santos received a
reply from Farah, who referenced
her own experiences of sexual
harassment at a restaurant when
she was younger.
“As a woman who started
working in kitchens at 13 years
old, I was exposed to this type
of misconduct 20 years ago — at
a time when sadly, no one was
willing to hear about this sort
of thing,” Farah wrote. “Long
since, I have vowed to run things
differently in my business and I
have always taken pride in the
fact that our kitchen culture
is female friendly, until now,
hearing about your encounters.”
Farah
told
Castro-Santos
Sava’s would take action to
address her allegations.
“What you experienced and
how you were treated should
have never happened and I am
deeply regretful for the conduct
you reported and the responses
from my managers that left
you feeling dismissed an (sic)
unheard,” Farah wrote. “As of
receiving your note, we have
implemented a hyper vigilant
zero-tolerance
policy
for
harassment of any type, we have
re-trained every single manager
on our policy and also how to
properly handle these matters in
the future and we have held each
person in your email accountable
to their actions and inactions.”
On April 6, 2019, another
Sava’s employee complained to
management
about
Esquivel,
this time over sexually explicit
comments
she
witnessed
Esquivel make against Parow.

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, February 17, 2020

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Daily Staff Reporters

‘It traumatized me’:

DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily

Former employees of Sava’s bring numerous allegations
of sexual harassment, misconduct

See SAVCO, Page 2A

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