A manager at buzzy West Village restaurant Savta groped two female employees, pulled down their clothes and showed one of them homemade porn — then landed a top job at the company’s new Los Angeles location, a new lawsuit claims.
Former staffers Angela Vitanza, 25, and Carmen Di Iorio, 23, say general manager Santiago Parejo relentlessly harassed them throughout 2024 at the now-shuttered Bleecker Street hotspot.
Parejo allegedly grabbed Vitanza’s butt, pulled down her pants and shirt and showed her clips of himself having sex.
Savta quietly closed last fall — but not before two young staffers say they were groped, humiliated and retaliated against by a manager who now works for the brand in L.A, the workers said in a lawsuit. Savta/ InstagramHe once asked her: “Will you go to my hotel room and have sex with me?” according to the complaint filed June 3 in Manhattan Supreme Court.
When Vitanza, who worked there from June to November, messaged Savta founder Vincent Benoliel to talk about something “very important” — Parejo’s behavior — he took no action and instead forwarded it to Parejo, who confronted her the same day, the suit claims.
Afterwards Vitanza — who hoped to transfer to sister restaurant Pasta Corner in Midtown — was told by a bartender it was no longer happening. She took this as retaliation, according to the lawsuit.
Di Iorio, who worked at Savta from April to November, said Parejo ogled her daily, touched her without consent and made repeated crude comments — telling coworkers he wanted “a turn to experience her,” according to the suit.
Angela Vitanza was “extremely distressed” when Santiago Parejo allegedly texted her a screenshot of her complaint, showing the Savta owner had passed her private message directly to the man she was accusing. Savta/ InstagramDi Iorio said she quit in November by texting a false excuse — claiming her new job required weekend shifts — because she was afraid of retaliation if she told the truth.
Parejo is now listed on LinkedIn as a senior manager at Savta’s new LA outpost.
It was recently named one of the city’s best new restaurants by Time Out.
Co-owned by Vincent Benoliel, Midtown’s Pasta Corner was where Vitanza hoped to transfer when Savta’s closure loomed — until Parejo allegedly stepped in to block the move. Pasta Corner/ Instagram
According to the suit, Parejo was still on payroll and managing staff matters at the NYC location, including W-2s, weeks after Benoliel told Vitanza he had been fired. Savta/ InstagramThe lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages, names Savta, Parejo and Benoliel as defendants, accusing them of sexual harassment, retaliation and discrimination under city and state human rights laws.
Parejo, Benoliel and the restaurant did not respond to requests for comment.
The plaintiffs also did not respond.
