A recent Insider investigation included interviews with nine former staff members who worked at six of the 22 restaurants the chef owns. As a result, seven complaints in two cities were filed against the business.

It’s finally here! I wrote about the meat empire of the Instagram-famous butcher Nusret Gökce, more commonly known as ‘Salt Bae.’https://t.co/dGdLxiGdzu

— Sophia Ankel (@sophiaankel) April 26, 2023

One woman who formerly worked as a reservation agent at Nusr-Et Miami told Insider she didn’t feel “respected” by the butcher known as Salt Bae, born Nusret Gökçe.

“You feel like you were treated a lot less, not really respected,” she said, adding other women were forced to wear revealing outfits at the restaurant locations mentioned in the complaints.

Former Nusr-Et New York bartender Elizabeth Cruz filed a complaint in November 2021, stating she had to wear a “short skirt, high-heels, and revealing top” when she arrived for her shift, per Insider. She also said one of the managers made inappropriate comments after he found out she was Dominican.

“My wife is Dominican. I know how you women are,” Cruz recalled him telling her, insinuating Dominican women are more sexually promiscuous than others.

After Cruz seemingly complied with the request regarding her attire, she said several male colleagues harassed her. According to the complaint, one suggested she should be a stripper; another man tried to go out with her, and a third followed her home.

She also cited racial discrimination in her complaint after stating Turkish women didn’t have to wear revealing clothing like Cruz and other women were forced to do.

Cruz was later fired after she requested to wear a standard uniform at the restaurant, per the complaint.

Another former employee, Angelo Maher, also filed a lawsuit against the business owner in November 2021. In his complaint, he cited “nationality-based discrimination,” with several Turkish staffers allegedly harassing him because of his ethnicity.

Maher, a Latino, said one of his colleagues called him “Spanish s**t” and that he experienced “mental and physical anguish” from working at the establishment, according to Insider.

In addition to misogyny and racial discrimination, former New York waiter Mustafa Fteja accused the restaurateur of taking 3% off tips before paying his staff in a complaint filed in 2019. He said management “systematically fired each waiter who complained about not getting paid tips.”

Salt Bae became a social media sensation in 2017 for his overly dramatic way of seasoning his food.