Contracted vendor knew about blood-tainted food, order it served anyway
CASCADE COUNTY, MT – A recent lawsuit filed in federal court says that a contracted food preparation company operating the meal service for the Cascade County Detention Center saw an inmate who experienced a nosebleed during food service dripped blood into a pasta dish, and tried to throw out the contaminated food, only to be told to serve the food anyway.
Now, some of the inmates who were served the food have contracted hepatitis C, the same disease the inmate had tested positive for.
A group of 26 inmates who were in the Great Falls facility are suing the private prison food service company in Great Falls federal court, alleging a host of violations ranging from negligence to violating their constitutional rights.
Shortly after the incident occurred, the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office put out a press release saying that the administration which operates the jail did not find out about the bleeding incident until two days later, suspended Summit Food Service, the company which contracts for meal preparation, and began testing the affected inmates.
Summit Food Service, LLC, which is incorporated in New Mexico but based in Sioux Falls, S.D., released a statement about the incident when contacted by the Daily Montanan on Friday:
“We understand the concerns raised by the filing of a lawsuit related to this incident. While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, we want to inform our clients, partners, and community about our response to the incident.
“This was an isolated event caused by a supervisor failing to follow Summit’s established food safety protocols. We were shocked to learn of this incident, as all Summit Food Service employees, including this supervisor, are properly trained and certified in food safety protocol. Once Summit leadership became aware, we acted immediately by investigating the matter, terminating the employee, and implementing additional safeguards.
“Summit has developed additional specialized training and passed a subsequent health department inspection. We have also expanded our crisis and compliance hotline to directly give our clients access to our dedicated food safety and crisis response teams.
“We continue to work cooperatively with the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office and Health Department. Summit remains committed to implementing improvements and ensuring that our staff provide service within the standards, values, and food safety culture of Summit.”
According to court documents, before lunch on Sept. 28, an inmate who was assisting food preparation experienced a bloody nose. Blood fell into the food. However, when inmates tried to discard the food allegedly tainted with blood, a Summit Food Service employee demanded that pasta be served, and told staff to “scoop around (it).”
“(Summit employees) directed the inmates to place the contaminated food back into the serving line,” the court documents said.
The inmate was known to be positive for hepatitis C.
Still, inmates consumed the food, and several have since tested positive for the disease when they had previously not had it. The 26 named plaintiffs in the lawsuit said they either saw blood in the tray of food, or were later made aware that they had been served the contaminated food, court documents said.
“Plaintiffs experienced, among other things, revulsion, disgust, anger, horror, humiliation, embarrassment, despair, anxiety, worry, concern and nausea at being served food contaminated with human blood,” the lawsuit said. “Some of the plaintiffs have since tested positive for the first time in their lives with Hepatits C.”
The lawsuit says that they are likely to need medical care and treatment for the disease for the rest of their lives.
One of the counts the lawsuit raises is that being served blood-tainted food could be a violation of the inmates’ rights under the U.S. Constitution, including being free from cruel and unusual punishment.
The lawsuit also seeks punitive damages because of the situation, which attorneys Tim Bechtold, Elijah Inabnit and John Heenan, characterize as “reckless or callous disregard,” and that it happened because of an “evil motive or intent.” The attorneys said that the court should consider punitive damages, in addition to other damages, to send a strong message to other contract service providers.
On Oct. 7, Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter issued a statement.
“Upon learning of the incident, the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office acted immediately, revoking the security clearance of the SKS Kitchen Supervisor and initiating a full investigation into how contaminated food was knowingly served to inmates,” Slaughter said. “This incident is both disturbing and inexcusable. Summit Correction Services’ actions were reckless, violated every standard of sanitation and human decency, and placed individuals in unnecessary danger. The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office took swift action the moment we were informed and will ensure accountability from those responsible.”
Hepatitis C is a virus that is often spread through blood contact, according to the Mayo Clinic. In many people, the disease is asymptomatic, but it can also include jaundice, fatigue, nausea, and dark urine.
The highest risk groups include drug users, prisoners or those who have had many sexual partners. As the disease progresses, it can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer or liver failure.
Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com.
