Michael Noble, the owner and executive chef of two renowned Calgary restaurants, has been charged with sexual assault following a police investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct.
The 56-year-old restaurateur is accused of cornering a 21-year-old woman, one of his employees, in the washroom of a downtown establishment during the early morning hours of January 30, 2018. Noble allegedly assaulted the woman in a stall before the victim pushed him away and left the washroom.
The alleged assault occurred during a social gathering in the 200 block of 8 Avenue Southwest.
According to CPS Staff Sergeant Tom Hanson, the victim reported the incident a short time after the alleged assault.
“Not too long after the incident allegedly took place she brought the information forward to police for investigation," said Hanson. “There was a lot of follow up with other witnesses and extensive interviewing with the witness."
Michael John Noble, who is known for his work with Notable and The Nash, was charged with sexual assault on May 3, 2018.
Hanson confirms the accused and victim were employer and employee but the tenure of their working relationship has not been released.
In an interview with CTV Calgary, Balfour Der, Noble's attorney, says his client denies the allegation.
“We’re going to defend this thing vigorously, you can be assured of that,” said Der. “Mr. Noble has been an outstanding member of this community for a number of years and he takes this matter extremely serious."
Der questions the decision of the Calgary Police Service to hold a media availability following the charging of Noble.
“I don’t know how many of these charges I’ve defended and I have yet to have the police hold a press conference when they lay the charge," said Der. "I expect it’s because Mr. Noble is someone who has some notoriety in this city and it’s really unfair to him when things like that happen."
“Part of the problem nowadays with these things is they’re sensationalized at the beginning. It seems in the public’s eyes that the damage gets done just by the charge being laid.”
On Monday evening, Noble hosted an emergency meeting at The Nash in Inglewood for staff of the two eateries. CTV Calgary has obtained audio from the meeting where Noble addressed what he referred to as rumours.
"I know they've caused incredible stress for all of you," said Noble. "It's really important to me that all of you feel safe within either business that you're working in. I take it very seriously. I did not act inappropriately at the staff party."
During his speech to his employees, Noble did not deny that an interaction took place.
"What you take for facts is one side of the story. There is an ongoing investigation and I hope that you can trust that investigation. I get the levity of it. I haven't denied that there wasn't an interaction. I denied that there was anything inappropriate that happened."
Noble said he would be stepping back from his businesses for as long as it takes to ensure his staff has a safe place to go through the recovery process.
With files from CTV's Brenna Rose
