CHAMBERSBURG – The statement below was provided to Tri-State Alert today, 12 June 2023, on behalf of Michael Kalathas.
Michael Kalathas and his family are decades-long restaurateurs, proud residents of the Chambersburg community, and employ over fifty people. He has devoted his life to his employees, friends, community, and family. In the blink of an eye, false allegations from a person he never met are attempting to cancel him. Michael Kalathas’s decades of commitment and love for the Chambersburg community cannot and will not be cancelled.
The Kalathas family will never allow false accusations to cancel a fine-dining restaurant, banquet facility, sports bar, teaching academy, years of non-profit work, decades of charitable contributions, and restaurant consulting work, and decades of service for many community boards and organizations.
Michael Kalathas strenuously denies any wrongdoing and considers these allegations defamatory. Not only does Mr. Kalathas deny them, but law enforcement agencies have closed their investigation into these false allegations, saying they found nothing actionable. At least two social media sites have already taken down the false accounts.
Like so many other bogus accusations, this began on social media and then took hold in the rumor mill.
The Kalathas family began Costa Academy as a tuition-free opportunity for high school students to gain real-world experience in the restaurant industry, a program that was, until these false accusations, providing important training for the young people of this region. In addition to providing training, the Academy became an important resource for vulnerable members of the community by providing free meals as well as training for future entrepreneurs.
The false and defamatory accusations have damaged that effort and, by extension, the Chambersburg community. Mr. Kalathas, his family, and employees are committed to providing a safe place of work and training.
The Kalathas family stands together strong with the Chambersburg community.
