12 Million Reasons Why to Ensure a Competent Food Service Safety Program

1. 12 Million Reasons Why to Ensure a Competent Food Service Safety Program David Ludwig, MPH,RS - NEHA 2009

2. UC Restaurant LLC, Plaintiff vs. Maricopa County, Defendant No. CV - 05 - 1602 PHX-MHM

3. U.S. Constitution - Amendment 14Amendment 14 - Citizenship Rights1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protectionof the laws.

5. Federal Court System

6. Case Based on Constitutional Rights Violations • Requesting a Monetary Settlement of $12,000,000.00 • Would set Court Case Law for Due Process on Single Health Code Violations

7. Unfortunately Sometimesit is just about Money

8. Claimed by Plaintiff Violations noted by Inspector were not present Department gave Information to Media to harm business Operator did not have opportunity to have violation removed Negative Publicity resulted in loss of Name which they were attempting to Brand

9. Public Records Law

10. If you have them – You have to Show Them

11. Lessons Learned If your Records are electronic - are you sure they are the same as the copy given to the operator? Were you able to capture and store an electronic Signature? Is your electronic data purged routinely or at time of closure?

12. E-Mails Included

13. Lessons Learned Everything is Discoverable What you send then Delete does not necessarily get Deleted by the Recipient What you Say can Hurt You – What you put in Writing Definitely Will Hurt You

14. Deposition Time

15. Lessons Learned The Opposing Attorney is not Your Friend They will do anything to Discredit You What you say in your Deposition may come back to Haunt You!!

16. Mock Trial - $50,000 Practice

17. Lessons Learned Gain Insight into the Juror’s Thought Process With multiple Jury’s you can change your Strategies If you have a good chance of losing – you might consider settling!

18. Trial - 2 Weeks

19. Only 8 Jurors for Federal Case

20. Lessons Learned Jury Selection may be as important as the Trial itself The Jury to render a decision for the Plaintiff must be Unanimous Amount of Award is based on Compensatory Damages

21. The Plaintiff’s Case Violations noted by Inspector were not present Department gave Information to Media to harm business Operator did not have opportunity to have violation removed Negative Publicity resulted in loss of Name which they were attempting to Brand

22. Make Sure that you have a Signed & Up To Date Public Information Request

23. Plaintiff Called Witnesses I was called to review Awards and SOPs Called Supervisor – questioned Evaluation and SOPs Called Inspector – questioned Violations

24. Being a Good Witnesses Listen to the Attorney’s Question Be cognizant that they may be asking more than one question – ask them to simply ask one Don’t be bullied for an answer – let the Jury know that answering the question may be confusing When cross examined and redirected don’t waffle or discredit yourself Direct your answers to the Jury members rather than their attorney

25. Standard Operating Procedures

27. Lessons Learned Have a Descriptive Title for your SOP Have a Good Numbering System Be Specific in what is Required Never Ever – Reuse an SOP Number

28. Award System

29. Evaluations The Plaintiff reviewed Employment and Evaluation Histories for All Staff “Improve work quality in the area of food inspections. Goal: Write more violations. Improve the percentage of critical violations. Increase average score.”

30. Lessons Learned What you Write on an Evaluation maybe interpreted much differently than what you meant or what was understood Utilizing measures comparing individuals is Quantitative – Need to follow up with Qualitative Measures

31. Critical Violation Issue

32. Multiple Major Violations

33. Data Issues – Start Time

34. Disputed Signature

35. The Dreaded Flip Chart Flanhad

36. Lessons Learned Never Ever Ever Make Something Up It is always better to be embarrassed than to guess or make something up If a violation is Corrected at time of Inspection describe what was done to correct the violation on the inspection form

37. Witness In Chief That is the fancy name I am called for 2 weeks getting to sit through the entire trial You are both Expert Witness and someone who attempts to assist your attorney in questioning witnesses You’re also the individual looked upon as the Defendant

38. The Conspiracy Story When Planets Align

39. Lessons Learned When meeting with someone – write everything down including when and how you contact them

40. Using an Electronic Calendar

41. It can be Erased without You Knowing

42. Deleted E-Mail

43. Expert Witnesses They are used by both sides in an Attempt to Strengthen their Case They are paid by the side they represent – monetary amounts are often told to the Jury Their Scope of Testimony is limited to their area of Expertise Doing your homework in Deposition can Cancel the effect of an Expert

44. The Flea Flicker Making the final bid at Who is Telling the Truth The only one more Surprised than I – was the Plaintiff’s Attorney And this was the second time he was left nearly speechless!

45. The Verdict We Won but at a Cost of - $500,000.00 to fight this case

46. Continous Improvements Increased Mentoring by Supervisors in the Field – Standardization of Staff Ensuring our Electronic Data Collection is reproducible Re-Organization – Specialization and Delivering a High Quality Product to Our Customers

47. 2008

48. Questions