her complaint was made to a municipal health district,
rather than the state or federal occupational safety and
health agencies, there were no administrative remedies
available to her and the appropriate mechanism to bring
owner and his brother both smoke cigarettes which is fine, but NOT WHILE
THEY’RE WORKING. The owner sits in one of the booths smoking cigarette
after cigarette with a little cup of water just in case a customer walks in
so that he can extinguish his cigarette. His brother also known as our ‘‘cook’’
SMOKES IN THE KITCHEN. Most days there are cigarette butts sitting on
the counter tops. I have found ashes on the counters and I have even found
cigarette ashes on one of the pizza’s I have pulled out of the walk in to
sauce. There is a spot on the counter top next to the coffee machine to the
left where they have taped a piece of foil to the counter so that if a customer
walks in they can set the cigarette on the counter without burning the
counter top and quickly take care of the customer. Inside of the dish bucket
under the counter is a can filled with water to throw the lit cigarette butts
in to also extinguish if the customers walk in. NO ONE WASHES THEIR
HANDS AFTER SMOKING with the exception of Abigail Piktelis one of my
co-workers. In the storage room there are coffee cups and souffle cups with
water and cigarette butts in them cause the storage room is also used as a
smoking area when the owners friends come through. I have witnessed the
owner with his hand down his pants scratching his butt and balls not wash
his hands then go to the front to greet customers and make their food! We
were marked points for the shelves in the storage room not having stain/
polyurethane and for the flooring and yet none of these things have even
started to be corrected. There is NO PROPER MATTS for the floors in which
we stand for long periods of time. I was informed on 3/11/22 that I was no
longer allowed to change the bain [marie] containers nightly. I am only
allowed to change them once a week now, which is disgusting due to all
the grease that accumulates in them on a daily basis. At times they put
frozen items on top of the oven to defrost instead of in the walk in because
someone forgot to take something out the night before. The owner’s wife
has a habit of eating the provolone cheese which wouldn’t be a problem if
she didn’t take a bite then throw the remainder of the slice back into the
container where the unused provolone sits. Nothing is ever dated or labeled
to know how old it is. I continue to throw things away that either feel slimy,
look discolored, or have a foul odor. I have witnessed the owner cut RAW
CHICKEN, then use that same knife to cut cooked chicken. The owners
brother drinks on the job and in doing so I believe that some foods don’t
get cooked to the proper temperatures. Which I believe is why he microwaves
all meats cooked in the fryer. I could continue on with more things wrong
with the way that this business is ran, however I believe I’ve said more than
enough at this point. As you can see from the reasons listed above there
are serious safety health issues at stake here that should definitely be looked
into and addressed. There are also issues of sexual harassment and hostile
work environment which will be addressed to the proper channels. Thank
you for your time and understanding.’’
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