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NYC inspector quits over rats
10/04/2007 14:42 - (SA)
New York - In the first complaint the New York City health department received about a rodent-infested fast-food restaurant, someone said a rat fell from the ceiling as he or she was eating.
That was on January 22, weeks before the rat infestation at the KFC/Taco Bell in Greenwich Village was captured on video by a TV camera, causing a national embarrassment for the company and prompting increased enforcement of health code rules at city eateries.
The details came from one of two reports issued on Monday by the city seeking to explain how the KFC/Taco Bell in Manhattan earned a passing grade, after a February inspection cited systemic failures and a health department inspector's "lack of diligence".
The inspector responsible for the flawed audit resigned on Monday.
A report from the health department found shortcomings such as the city's lack of an "adequate mechanism" to respond to repeated restaurant complaints, and focusing too heavily on signs of rodent activity rather than conditions that foster infestations.
The report from the Department of Investigation (DOI), however, did not hold back in its criticism.
"After a thorough investigation, DOI found a disturbing lack of diligence on the part of the public health sanitarian who inspected the restaurant as well as a breakdown in the supervision of the inspector," DOI commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said.
The department said the inspector, Cemone Thomas, "underreported the rodent-related findings and failed to take proper action ... which constituted a 'gross dereliction' of her duties".
In the wake of the incident, the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut said it had asked a leading rat expert to review company standards at its New York outlets. The company apologised for the rats, and said it was working to ensure infestation did not happen again.
- AP
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