Polking Around

Kemp Brinson, full-time lawyer and occasional blogger, has uncovered an interesting lawsuit while poking around court files: A former Florida Southern College’s food contractor employee alleges rats in the FSC cafeteria contaminated food last fall.

Notes Brinson: “Naturally, these allegations should not be accepted as true without looking into it more thoroughly, and, of course, seeking a response from FSC. But the complaint paints a pretty disgusting picture of rats scurrying up kitchen walls, bread half-eaten by rats being used to make croutons, and sugar and flour being infested with bugs. I hope FSC publicly refutes these allegations quickly and credibly.”

Jena Lewis, who filed the suit against Guest Services Hospitality Inc., claims she was fired after bringing the issue to light and seeks damages under Florida’s Whistleblower Act. Lewis is represented by Patrick R. Frank of Tallahassee.

Update: In The Ledger’s story on the lawsuit, a lawyer for Guest Services paints Lewis as a disgruntled former employee, and the article points to health inspections that found no problems.

“We are proud of the quality of food service and cleanliness,” FSC President Kerr told The Ledger. “We would never, ever let anything bad happen to our students.”

Check the lawsuit:

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Barry Friedman founded Lkldnow.com in 2015 as the culmination of a career in print and digital journalism. Since 1982, he has used the tools of reporting, editing and content curation to help people in Lakeland understand their community better.

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