No Proof Found of Servers’ Claims!

A health inspection turns up no evidence suggesting unsanitary conditions at Denny’s.

An informal inspection of the Newhall Denny’s where waitresses walked off the job, complaining that they were forced to serve food on dirty dishes, turned up no evidence to support their allegations, a county Health Department official said this week. Further, the waitresses never filed a complaint with the department, which is charged with regulating health issues in restaurants, said Terrance Powell, environmental health services manager. “We never received any additional complaints” besides one lodged in June on a separate issue, Powell said Thursday. Four food servers walked off the job on the Fourth of July weekend, saying they were being asked to serve food on unwashed dishes. On July 8, they picketed outside the restaurant at

25341 Chiquella Lane

, saying they were fired for protecting their customer’s health. Powell said the Health Department made an unannounced inspection of Denny’s on June 21 and awarded the restaurant a score of 92 on its grading scale that ranks sanitation, safe food handling and other conditions, although a few violations were found. A 92 is an “A” on the Health Department’s grading scale. On July 11, a re-inspection was conducted. Although it was a follow-up to the June inspection and not prompted by the servers’ complaints, inspectors informally looked into their allegations but found no substantiating evidence, Powell said. Since 2000, Denny’s has maintained an “A” except for one slip to a “B” in September 2003.