Michael Isabella, center, cooks during a presentation for “Top Chef: Las Vegas” in 2009. AP Photo/Matt Sayles

A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday against celebrity chef Mike Isabella and associated businesses accuses the restaurant chain of fostering a culture of sexual harassment against female workers, including a required “lifetime” nondisclosure agreement that blocks employees from speaking out about alleged workplace abuses.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims Isabella and certain business partners created a “bro culture” that allows harassment to persist at establishments throughout the Washington area. The civil action builds on and replaces a similar suit filed in D.C. Superior Court last month on behalf of Chloe Caras, who was the highest ranking woman in the company before she was fired after years of alleged sexual harassment.

Caras, the lead plaintiff in the federal suit, claimed that workplace misbehavior included unwelcome touching, sexual advances, vulgar and explicitly sexual remarks and sexist insults, including Isabella and others spreading rumors about sleeping with her. Caras worked for Isabella Eatery for three years.

A lawyer for Mike Isabella Concepts, Brian Bregman, did not immediately respond to request for comment Tuesday. The Maryland firm Bascietto & Bregman said in a statement last month, responding to the lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court: “Harassment, discrimination, bullying, abuse or unequal treatment of any kind whatsoever are not tolerated at MIC.” The statement called the allegations false and said the company was prepared to fight the claims.

The federal lawsuit, filed by Debra Katz of Washington's Katz, Marshall & Banks, seeks a court order invalidating the nondisclosure agreement that workers at Isabella's restaurants are allegedly required to sign. The federal claims include alleged harassment and retaliation in violation of civil rights law.

“Surprisingly, while commentators, journalists, lawyers, etc., post-Weinstein have talked about the dangers of overly broad NDAs there is a total paucity of case law,” Katz said in an email Tuesday. “This will be one of the first cases filed to strike such a provision.”

Nondisclosure agreements have come under fire in the wake of the #MeToo movement that has seen women speaking out against alleged workplace abuses. Katz, a longtime employee rights attorney in D.C., has represented women in several high-profile workplace cases, including a group from NPR.

In the Isabella case, the nondisclosure agreements were a new part of the lawsuit filed in federal court.

The agreements say employees will pay $500,000 plus legal fees for breach of “confidential information” for the employee's lifetime. Such information includes any “details of the personal and business lives of Mike Isabella, his family members, friends, business associates and dealings.” Workers required to sign these agreements include those who make $3.33 an hour plus tips.

“While the NDA bars employees from disclosing information to 'any person, firm or entity whatsoever,' including the media, it fails to advise employees of their rights to report sexual harassment and other misconduct to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the D.C. Office of Human Rights, or any other state or local agency or to retain their own counsel,” Katz said in the new lawsuit.

 

The new complaint is posted below:

 

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