2A — Monday, February 17, 2020
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Notice to all Students
Regarding Suspended Fraternity
The Chi Phi Fraternity at the University of Michigan was placed
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azarian@chiphi.org
One such comment Esquivel
allegedly made was to call
Parow “sucia,” which means
“dirty” in Spanish, a slang term
for whore. This employee asked
to be identified by only her first
name, Savannah, out of fear of
professional retribution.
“I had noticed that in the
kitchen they were calling her
‘sucia,’” Savannah said. “They
were harassing her so I went to
a manager.”
Sava’s
management
told
Savannah they would address
this issue, but Savannah alleged
she saw no response to this
complaint.
“They’re like, ‘Oh okay we’ll
definitely
deal
with
this,’”
Savannah said. “And nothing
happened.”
SavCo Hospitality terminated
Savannah’s employment April
30, 2019. In a letter sent to
Savannah, a photo of which was
obtained by The Daily, a Sava’s
manager explained that her
termination was related to her
telling other employees what she
claims she had witnessed.
“Most
recently,
there
were two incidents in which
employees named you as the
individual that told them stories
regarding
sexual
harassment
issues not being addressed in
the workplace resulting in them
no longer wanting to work at
our establishment,” the Sava’s
manager wrote. “... Both incidents
that those individuals reported
hearing from you specifically are
untrue and have been thoroughly
investigated and concluded with
the individuals involved.”
The manager said this was
why Savannah was being fired.
“While we can’t assume your
intentions, the consequences of
your behavior are beyond repair
and this is why we must part ways
with you effective immediately,”
the manager wrote.
“We can no longer condone the
toxic and harmful way in which you
conduct yourself.”
***
The alleged sexual misconduct
described in Parow’s Facebook post
took place weeks after Savannah
reported Esquivel’s alleged “sucia”
comments to Sava’s management.
The
Daily
spoke
with
three
individuals with knowledge of
Parow’s description of these events
from before they became public. All
three corroborated the consistency
of Parow’s account of the alleged
sexual misconduct.
Parow alleged that after a private
dining event, she walked towards
an outside underground storage
facility, which employees call the
“Dungeon.” Esquivel and another
kitchen employee allegedly grabbed
her by the arms and tried to force
her into the Dungeon.
No
other
individuals
were
present to witness this incident.
The other kitchen employee did
not respond to multiple requests for
comment.
“We’re going to rape you,” they
said, according to Parow.
Ever since she first made her
allegations this summer, Parow
has maintained that she does not
remember what happened after
that statement. Though she had
not consumed alcohol, she said
that she “blacked out” at this point,
according to interviews with Parow
and two other employees.
The Daily obtained a copy of
SavCo Hospitality’s investigation
into Parow’s claim.
According to the investigation,
Esquivel and the other chef denied
pulling Parow into a storage area
or threatening sexual assault. They
alleged that Parow had repeatedly
made sexual jokes and comments
to them in the months leading up
to the incident, something that the
investigation notes Esquivel had
once reported to another manager.
Parow’s claim of the alleged
sexual misconduct was found to be
unsubstantiated.
The investigation also notes that
“a final warning” had been issued to
Esquivel.
Following
a
meeting
with
Human Resources representatives,
management
removed
Parow
from future private dining events.
According to Parow, they agreed
she should take time off for her
mental health.
At a later meeting, Parow was
given a contract releasing SavCo
Hospitality from any liability if
Parow sought to sue them at a later
date.
“I was in no place to be signing
absolutely anything,” Parow said.
“I was a fucking mess. I was so
scared. I was always looking over
my shoulder at the time. I thought
it was for my paid time off, and I
needed rent. Rent was due almost
… I signed it, I walked out of there.”
Parow had also signed a non-
disparagement agreement as part of
her initial employment paperwork.
The
agreement
specifically
prohibits Parow from speaking
negatively
of
any
“employee,
business or process” of SavCo
Hospitality.
Non-disparagement agreements,
or NDAs, have come under scrutiny
in the wake of the #MeToo
movement. In December, The Daily
reported on confidential NDAs
reached between the University of
Michigan and former employees,
agreements totalling approximately
$1.265 million over a six-month
period. Ex-University employees
complained that the agreements
silenced them by stifling criticism of
their former employer.
The Daily found evidence of two
non-disparagement
agreements,
including Parow’s, that SavCo
Hospitality reached with former
employees. Both had been included
in documents the employees signed
when starting their employment.
Though Parow worked at Sava’s
and the other employee worked
at Aventura, the terms of these
agreements were nearly identical.
It is unclear if these agreements
are still included in incoming
employment paperwork.
In an interview with The Daily,
Ally Coll, the president of the
#MeToo
advocacy
organization
The Purple Campaign said these
agreements
have
debilitating
effects on public discourse around
allegations of harassment and
misconduct.
“(NDAs)
have
allowed
organizations and leadership at
organizations to avoid actually
addressing the underlying issue,”
Coll said.
Companies that reach these
agreements are also emboldened,
Coll explained, to not resolve claims
of harassment and misconduct
equitably.
“They no longer are as worried
about making sure that both parties
feel that their claims were fairly
resolved,” Coll said.
***
On Aug. 12, 2019, Parow posted
an account of the incident with
Esquivel and Sava’s management’s
response on Facebook. Though
they had offered her a position at
another SavCo Hospitality-owned
restaurant, she had quit working for
the company months earlier.
Parow alleged that management
brushed off her complaint.
“They did not want to hear it.
They put it away, they covered it
up,” Parow said in an interview with
The Daily. “They knew, just because
this stuff has happened before and
my Facebook post has brought out a
lot of women to come forward and
share. So I’m not afraid of being
called a liar or anything, because it’s
the fucking truth.”
In
response
to
Parrow’s
post, SavCo Hospitality shared
a statement on Facebook. The
statement has since been taken
down.
“We want everyone to know
that any and all alleged incidents
that have been brought to the
company’s attention have been
fully investigated and handled
with care. We do not tolerate
any type of harassment in our
company,”
SavCo
Hospitality
wrote, according to an article from
MLive. “The situation in question
was thoroughly investigated over
several weeks, including interviews
with all parties involved … We took
the situation very seriously, and we
are certain we handled this matter
appropriately,
given
a
diligent
investigation and several objective
individuals all reaching the same
conclusion.”
Farah discussed the investigation
in an interview with MLive in
August.
“We apologize for the experience
she’s having, but we investigated,
and
it
came
out
completely
unsubstantiated,” Farah said.
The Daily spoke with another
Sava’s employee familiar with
the
circumstances
of
Parow’s
allegations of sexual misconduct.
The employee declined to be named
for fear of professional retribution.
They claimed Farah described
Esquivel and the chef’s actions as
a joke in a private conversation.
This was after SavCo Hospitality
concluded its investigation of the
incident, and the employee believed
this was the final finding.
“(Farah told me) the incident was
a joke,” the employee said. “But it
was okay … because Gustavo knew
that it was inappropriate now.”
The Daily spoke to another Sava’s
employee working at the restaurant
at the time that the investigation
into Parow’s claim concluded. This
employee asked to be referred to
only by their first name, Sam, citing
fears of professional retribution.
Sam claimed company-wide staff
meetings were held to discuss the
findings of the investigation into
Parow’s allegations, but employees
had a difficult time asking questions
because management dominated
the conversation.
Sam said they believed these
meetings were organized to scare
employees from speaking publicly
about the allegations.
“I genuinely believe they did that,
purposefully, so that they could
hear less voices, get less feedback
and create this culture of silence,”
Sam said.
In
text
messages
between
Parow and Farah shortly after
Parow’s Facebook post, Farah
threatened Parow with a lawsuit.
Parow provided copies of these text
messages to The Daily.
“This is a gross misrepresentation
of what occurred and if I have to
defend myself I will have to have
my legal team hit you with a slander
lawsuit tomorrow morning,” Farah
wrote.
Parow said she felt betrayed by
SavCo management. She had once
thought highly enough of Farah to
get a tattoo of the Albanian word
“besa” — referring to the Albanian
code of honor — after it featured
prominently in a TEDx Talk Farah
gave in March 2018.
“I was in awe of (Farah),” Parow
said. “I looked up to her … I was
proud to work for her — a powerful
woman-owned business. I was
really about that.”
Parow took down her Facebook
post. Farah never sued.
***
The Daily spoke with three other
former Sava’s employees. Two of the
employees requested anonymity,
citing
fears
of
professional
retribution. In this article, one will
be referred to as Anne and the other
as Jane.
Jane alleged that male workers
repeatedly
harassed
her
with
sexual innuendos and sexist verbal
statements. In one instance, she
recalled a male worker allegedly
asking her for details about her
romantic relationship.
Jane also alleged that male
workers
repeatedly
touched
her, often inappropriately, while
walking past her in the kitchen.
She said this occurred so often she
became desensitized to it.
“It was every single day,” Jane
said. “You would just kind of let it
happen after a while because it’s
just — they’re not going to stop.”
Anne alleged that when Esquivel
began touching her inappropriately
another male employee mimicked
him.
“(A male employee) saw what
Gustavo was doing to me and started
imitating his actions,” Anne said.
“Like grabbing my butt and like
getting really close to me.”
She alleged that this continued
throughout her time in the
restaurant’s kitchen.
“The groping would happen a
lot,” Anne said. “The trying to go
down my pants happened a few
times.”
Anne spoke of an incident in
which a male employee — the
same
employee
who
Parow
alleges cornered her in the
Dungeon with Esquivel — and
Esquivel
allegedly
followed
her into a storage area and
propositioned her for sex, asking
if she would have a “threesome”
with them.
“I said, ‘I won’t even have sex
with one of you. What makes
you think I’m going to have a
threesome?’” Anne said. “It was
just that they all had this mindset
that that’s just what I do.”
Jane also spoke of an incident
in
which
Esquivel
allegedly
kissed an employee in view of one
of the restaurant’s security cameras.
It is unclear whether this incident
was recorded or if a recording still
exists.
When
Anne
later
brought
forward
an
allegation
of
misconduct, she, like Castro-Santos,
thought Esquivel’s status affected
the company’s response.
“They went into saying how great
Gustavo is for this company and
they just wouldn’t stop talking
about it,” Anne said.
The implication, she thought,
was that if she didn’t withdraw
her complaint, “they’ll be losing
their most prized chef.”
Mimi
Verdiyan,
another
former Sava’s employee, wrote
of her skepticism regarding the
investigation process.
“I never witnessed any sexual
misconduct myself,” Verdiyan
wrote in a message to The Daily.
“The way (other allegations
were) handled was messed up.”
Verdiyan
described
the
process by which information
about
allegations
was
disseminated to employees. She
said she heard other employees
discuss these investigations.
“The
people
who
went
through
the
‘investigation
process’ did mention that it
wasn’t really an investigation
and more a strategy to dissolve
the issue itself,” Verdiyan wrote.
“Just weird insidious ways to
keep everyone from asking too
many questions.”
Verdiyan said she experienced
something similar when she
made a complaint about racial
discrimination.
“They had similar strategies
when (a) situation with racial
discrimination
at
the
host
stand was starting to surface,”
Verdiyan wrote. “Which again is
what I was closer to.”
***
Dan
Rodaire,
a
former
employee of Aventura alleged he
witnessed repeated harassment
against other employees. It was
Parow’s post that led Rodaire
to come forward with his own
allegations.
He
shared
his
experiences in a Facebook post
responding to Parow’s post.
“Dear Ghia, I’ve never met
you but I am absolutely sure
that everything you’re saying is
true because I had an extremely
similar
experience
working
at
Sava’s
sister
restaurant,
Aventura,” Rodaire wrote. “I
was fired in direct response to
a meeting with management in
which I had reported continual
sexual
harassment
from
a
prominent
kitchen
employee
towards almost, if not all, of the
women who worked as server
assistants, among others.”
In an interview with The
Daily, Rodaire said that he made
several reports to management
about this harassment. In his
Facebook post, he alleged that
upper management was aware
of it.
“As someone who spent a lot
of time in the manager’s office
fighting for what I believed in —
I knew for a fact that all of upper
SAVCO
from Page 1A
management was aware of these
problems,” Rodaire wrote.
Rodaire also spoke of the
disparity between the front of
house and back of house cultures
at Aventura.
“There
are
two
totally
different worlds at Aventura,”
Rodaire said in an interview with
The Daily. “There’s the front of
house and then the back of house.
The front of house is mainly
University of Michigan students,
and I’d say that ethical standards
for the most part were upheld in
front of the guests. The upstairs
world was mainly regulated, but
the downstairs world was not.”
Many former employees said
they believe SavCo Hospitality
will not change its responses to
allegations of sexual harassment
and misconduct until it begins to
affect the company’s bottom line.
“They can’t possibly publicly
believe (Parow) or acknowledge
the truth of her story in any way
because they would lose money,”
Sam said. “They work in the
interest of creating a profit and if
their profit is going to be harmed
by allegations of sexual assault
then they would do anything that
they can to tamp those down.”
Rodaire
noted
SavCo
Hospitality’s emphasis on their
public image.
“If
they
were
to
fire
(an
employee)
for
sexual
harassment, the story would
become about them,” Rodaire
said. “It would put their name in
the press, and that’s what they
don’t want.”
Castro-Santos said she refuses
to support restaurants owned
by SavCo Hospitality after her
experience working for them.
“I have very strong feelings
about
not
giving
them
my
money,” Castro-Santos said. “I
think that we individually have
a responsibility to ourselves
and other people to not endorse
a company that doesn’t need
our money and doesn’t help its
employees — doesn’t care about
its employees.”
Reporters Zayna Syed and
Sammy Sussman can be reached
at
zasyed@michigandaily.com
and sbsu@michigandaily.com.