Adams County Jail, Adams County, Pennsylvania
March 26, 2009 The Evening Sun
Adams County will soon get into the culinary business - in jail. Starting in June, the county will be providing its own food service at Adams County Prison. The current contractor, Aramark Food Services, chose to cancel its contract with the county effective June 18. County Solicitor John Hartzell said the contract allowed for Aramark to choose not to renew with 90 days notice. The contractor planned on raising its rates by 25 cents per meal per prisoner, about a 5 percent increase. The county did not agree with the rate hike, believing they could do the job cheaper, or at least at the same cost as the contractor prior to the hike, Commissioner George Weikert said. Commissioners also said prison officials were not happy with the quality of the food served by Aramark. Weikert said several factors have been taken into account in starting a county service, including cost, food quality and nutritional value. Commissioner Glenn Snyder said some of the cost will be curtailed with the county in control because the county can use vegetables grown in the prison's new garden. Vegetables from the garden were used last year, but there was no reduction in the contractor's cost.

Aire Filter Products, Arizona
Federal agents arrested nine Mexican nationals Tuesday and accused them of working illegally at a Mesa plant that manufactures military helicopters.  The workers, whose names were not released, were contract employees of Aramark and Aire Filter Products, subcontractors at the Boeing plant.  (The Arizona Republic, September 1, 2004

Aramark, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 3, 2008 Star-Ledger
The family of a young girl paralyzed in a drunk-driving accident nine years ago received a $25 million settlement from Aramark Corp., the Giants Stadium beer vendor whose employees continued to serve the intoxicated fan who caused the crash. The settlement with the family of Antonia Verni, who is now 11, took place last year but was not disclosed until today, when a state appeals court ruled that sealed documents in the case must be made public. Antonia, a quadriplegic who requires a ventilator to breathe, received $23.5 million in the settlement, said the family's lawyer, David A. Mazie of Roseland. Her mother, Fazila Verni, received $1.5 million for injuries she suffered in the crash.

February 24, 2008 Naperville Sun
A company hoping to win another contract at the DuPage County Jail has donated thousands of dollars to elected county officials. Aramark, a Philadelphia-based company that has provided the jail's food service for 21 years, has poured $14,770 into campaign coffers of State's Attorney Joe Birkett, Sheriff John Zaruba, County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom and others since 1999, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. County Board members Brien Sheahan, Debra Olson and Mike McMahon have received several hundred dollars each. In a bidding process fraught with ambiguity and conflict, Aramark has been fighting for more than a year to continue serving food to jail inmates. When the bid was redone for the third time in December, the company submitted a $949,616 bid that was $6,000 lower than that of its competitor, Minnesota-based A'viands. But after the state's attorney's office said Aramark submitted a menu that didn't meet requirements, officials recommended the bid be awarded to A'viands. Aramark's menu diverged slightly by offering breaded fish patties rather than the specified fish fillets and 12-ounce instead of 8-ounce oatmeal servings, Assistant State's Attorney Tom Downing said. Potential savings -- However, County Board members are giving Aramark another shot at the contract, opting for a fourth bid instead of awarding the contract to A'viands. They say the county can save thousands of dollars by changing bidding requirements. Instead of stipulating a specific menu, board members want to mandate only certain nutritional requirements, as was done during the second round of bidding. Allowing bidders to submit their own menu resulted in a bid from Aramark that was $120,000 less than when it followed a menu mandated by the county. That cost difference is enough to justify yet another bid, said Sheahan, calling the whole process "ridiculous." "We're basically having a $120,000 argument over whether milk and oatmeal will fit on a tray, and I think we owe it to taxpayers to make sure we are getting the best value for their money," he said. "We're not interested in spending extra every year so people at the County Jail can eat fish fillets instead of fish sticks." Nothing to hide -- Sheahan said a $500 contribution from Aramark to his primary campaign had nothing to do with his support for a fourth bid. "I really don't care whether Aramark gets it or not," he said. "I want the lowest bid to get it. I think the interest of the committee is just to get the best value for taxpayers." Saying she believes Aramark has submitted responsible bids, Olson, of Wheaton, said she supports a fourth bid to potentially save the $120,000. "This is about saving taxpayers money," said Olson, who noted that she has supported extending the temporary contracts to A'viands. "Any implications that my motivations are other than in the best interests of taxpayers is insulting." Birkett, who has received $3,600 from Aramark, said the campaign contributions played no role in the opinion rendered by his office, which ruled Aramark's bid noncompliant. "If I'm asked for opinion or legal guidance, I give it, free from any political support I've received," Birkett said. The recipient of $4,500 from Aramark, Schillerstrom sided with the state's attorney, saying Aramark failed to meet the menu requirements. "I believe A'viands is the lowest responsible bidder," he said. "I think it's clear that Aramark did not comply with the bid." Zaruba did not return a phone call seeking comment. Nutrition requirements -- Disputes about nutrition requirements have plagued the bidding process, which began last March. After the county declared A'viands the winner of the first bid, Aramark filed a lawsuit claiming its submitted menus were deficient. Schillerstrom upheld the protest, finding that both companies failed to meet requirements and declared a second round of bidding. For the second bid, the county outlined more specific nutrition standards. But both companies fell short, saying it was impossible to meet sodium requirements. In the third bid, the county hired a nutritionist to create a specific menu. While A'viands said the menu gave clear and specific requirements, Aramark disagreed. "It was crystal clear to us that we were to submit a menu that exactly met those requirements, and that's what we did," said Perry Rynders, CEO of A'viands. Rynders expressed "significant disappointment" at the county's decision to hold another bid, saying no one had disputed that A'viands did meet requirements. Temporary contract -- To keep prison inmates fed, the county has issued a string of temporary contracts to A'viands since July. But it's difficult to attract and hire good workers at the jail while the contract remains in limbo, Rynders said. "It's very difficult for us to find staff to work on a temporary basis," he said. "Each time this comes up, they're wondering if their job is on the line. I don't think the County Board understands how difficult this is on us." Aramark spokesman Tim Elliot said the county should return to a nutrition-based bid instead of one based on a menu. That is standard procedure for most of the 700 correctional facilities the company services worldwide, he said. Aramark is a private company that is the 19th-largest employer on the Fortune 500, employing 240,000 workers in 19 countries. Hospitals, eldercare centers, schools, corporations and sports stadiums are among the company's clients. Board member Jim Healy of Naperville agreed with Aramark that the county's "ambiguous" menu should be thrown out in favor of nutritional requirements. "We don't care what you serve as long as you meet the nutritional standards," he said. The county should have stuck with very basic nutritional requirements as it had done until last year, said board member Jim Zay. "This is insane ... the more people we get involved, the worse it gets," Zay said. "This has been costing us hundreds of thousands more because we've been screwing around with it."

November 7, 2007 Financial Times
Madison Dearborn is preparing a sale of Valitas, a company that provides medical care to prison populations, three sources told mergermarket. An auction for the company will probably kick off early next year, and the company is working on putting together a staple financing package at the moment, according to one of the sources. UBS has been mandated to run the process, the second source said. Valitas’ EBITDA is around USD 50m, according to an industry banker. The company’s main subsidiary, Correctional Medical Services, reached USD 750m in revenues in 2007, according to its website. The company is likely to draw interest from private equity buyers only, as there are no natural strategic buyers for the asset, the banker added. Valitas could draw interest from Maximus, a listed provider of healthcare services to the US government, a second industry banker said. Madison Dearborn backed a management buyout of the Missouri-based company in 1997 from Aramark, the company that provides food service and uniforms to institutions, according to news reports. Under Aramark the division was called Spectrum Healthcare, and included a business that provided contract healthcare services to the US military. That business, however, was sold to Team Health, another Madison Dearborn portfolio holding, in 2002. Team Health itself was sold to the Blackstone Group, in 2005. The company is one of the oldest healthcare investments in Madison Dearborn’s portfolio, the industry banker said. A company spokesperson declined comment, and a Madison Dearborn official did not return calls.

March 18, 2007 The Oregonian
Federal court statistics show that plaintiffs filed nearly 4,200 cases under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which governs pay practices, in fiscal 2006, which ended Sept. 30. That's up from 4,040 cases in fiscal 2005 and 2,751 in 2003. In Portland this month, Richard Bird filed a class-action lawsuit against his ex-employer, Aramark Correctional Services Inc. He alleges the nationwide prison-service provider broke Oregon laws by failing to properly pay him and co-workers when they worked overtime, took rest periods and put in for their final paychecks. An Aramark spokeswoman said Friday that the company does not comment on pending litigation. Those claims surfaced in a state court -- Multnomah County Circuit Court, specifically. And although Oregon doesn't track civil cases by cause, attorneys say wage-and-hour claims are numerous in state venues. Why the flood of cases? It's easy for employers to make a mistake and relatively easy for employees to make them pay for it, said Nancy Cooper, an attorney with Bullivant Houser Bailey in Portland. Wage-and-hour rules are complicated and vary across state lines, making national firms such as Philadelphia-based Aramark vulnerable. Oregon, for instance, requires employers to provide paid 10-minute breaks, Cooper said. Arizona does not.

February 3, 2007 AP
The first time Joseph Neubauer took Aramark Corp. private in 1984, the deal was worth $889 million. When he and other managers led a leveraged buyout of the nation's largest food services company a second time, the price tag zoomed to $6.24 billion. And the biggest winner among shareholders at Aramark, which Friday completed its first week as a newly private company? Neubauer and his family, whose holdings soared in value to almost $1 billion. That puts Neubauer, 65, who came to the United States from Israel alone at the age of 14 and said he learned English from John Wayne movies, near the top of the list of beneficiaries from a wave of leveraged buyouts that has swept corporate America in the past year.

August 14, 2006 In These Times
While New Mexico’s landscape may make the state the Land of Enchantment, its rapidly growing rates of incarceration have been utterly disenchanting. What’s worse, New Mexico is at the top of the nation’s list for privatizing prisons; nearly one-half of the state’s prisons and jails are run by corporations. Supposedly, states turn to private companies to cope better with chronic overcrowding and for low-cost management. However, a closer look suggests a different rationale. A recent report from the Montana-based Institute on Money in State Politics reveals that during the 2002 and 2004 election cycles, private prison companies, directors, executives and lobbyists gave $3.3 million to candidates and state political parties across 44 states. According to Edwin Bender, executive director of the Institute on Money in State Politics, private prison companies strongly favor giving to states with the toughest sentencing laws—in essence, the ones that are more likely to come up with the bodies to fill prison beds. Those states, adds Bender, are also the ones most likely to have passed “three-strikes” laws. Those laws, first passed by Washington state voters in 1993 and then California voters in 1994, quickly swept the nation. They were largely based on “cookie-cutter legislation” pushed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), some of whose members come from the ranks of private prison companies. Florida leads the pack in terms of private prison dollars, with its candidates and political parties receiving almost 20 percent of their total contributions from private prison companies and their affiliates. Florida already has five privately owned and operated prisons, with a sixth on the way. It’s also privatized the bulk of its juvenile detention system. Texas and New Jersey are close behind. But in Florida, some of the influence peddling finally seems to be backfiring. Florida State Corrections Secretary James McDonough alarmed private prison companies with a comment during an Aug. 2 morning call-in radio show. “I actually think the state is better at running the prisons,” McDonough told an interviewer. His comments followed an internal audit last year by the state’s Department of Management Services, which demonstrated that Florida overpaid private prison operators by $1.3 million. Things may no longer be quite as sunny as they once were in Florida for the likes of Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and the former Wackenhut, now known as the GEO Group of Boca Raton, Fla. But with a little bit of spiel-tinkering—and a shift of attention to other states—the prison privatizers are likely to keep going. The key shift, Bender explains, is that “the prison industry has gone from a we-can-save-you-money pitch to an economic-development model pitch.” In other words, says Bender, “you need [their] prisons for jobs.” If political donations are any measure, economically challenged and poverty-stricken states like New Mexico are a great target. In this campaign cycle, Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson has already received more contributions from a private prison company than any other politician campaigning for state office in the United States. The Institute of Money in State Politics, which traced the donations, reported that GEO has contributed $42,750 to Richardson since 2005—and another $8,000 to his running mate, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish. Another $30,000 went from GEO to the Richardson-headed Democratic Governors Association this past March. Richardson’s PAC, Moving America Forward, was another prominent recipient of GEO donations. Now, its former head, prominent state capitol lobbyist Joe Velasquez, is a registered lobbyist for GEO Care Inc., a healthcare subsidiary that runs a hospital in New Mexico. But don’t get the idea that GEO has any particular love for Democrats: $95,000 from the corporation went to the Republican Governors Association last year alone. What companies like GEO do love are the millions of dollars rolling in from lucrative New Mexico contracts to run the Lea County Correctional Facility (operating budget: $25 million/year), and the Guadalupe County Correctional Facility ($13 million/year), among others. CCA also owns and operates the state’s only women’s facility in Grants ($11 million per year). To make sure that those dollars keep flowing, GEO and CCA have perfected the art of the “very tight revolving door,” says Bender, which involves snapping up former corrections administrators, PAC lobbyists and state officials to serve as consultants to private prison companies. In fact, the current New Mexico Corrections Department Secretary Joe Williams was once on GEO’s payroll as their warden of the Lea County Correctional Facility. Earlier this year, Williams was placed on unpaid administrative leave after accusations surfaced that he spent state travel and phone funds to pursue a very close relationship with Ann Casey. Casey is a registered lobbyist in New Mexico for Wexford Health Sources, which provides health care for prisoners at Grants, and Aramark, which provides most of the state’s inmate meals. In her non-lobbying hours, it turns out that Casey is also an assistant warden at a state prison in Centralia, Ill. It appears that even for a prison industry enchanted by public-private partnership, Williams and Casey may have gone too far.

August 9, 2006 Toledo Blade
Food-service company Aramark Corp. agreed yesterday to a $6.3 billion buyout by a group of investors including Joseph Neubauer, the company's chairman and chief executive officer. The buyers will also assume $2 billion in debt. The deal is the latest in a series of management-led buyouts. Others recently include the $21 billion offer to take hospital chain HCA Inc. private and the $13.4 billion offer for oil and gas pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Inc. Aramark said yesterday that shareholders will get $33.80 in cash for each share, an improvement on the $32-a-share initial bid made by the same group in May. Shares fell 47 cents to $32.58 on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Aramark has approximately 240,000 employees in 20 countries. It provides food services, facilities management, and uniform apparel to hospitals, schools, stadiums, and arenas.

May 1, 2006 Bloomberg
Aramark Corp., the food-service company that sells hot dogs and beer at Boston's Fenway Park and Shea Stadium in New York, received a $5.8 billion takeover offer from a group led by its chairman and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The group, which also includes JPMorgan Chase & Co., Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Warburg Pincus LLC, bid $32 a share, Philadelphia-based Aramark said today in a statement. That's 14 percent more than its April 28 close. Aramark's shares surged as high as $34.95 as investors bet the company, which also runs college and corporate cafeterias, would eventually fetch more from the buyout group or another acquirer. The company's board formed a committee of independent directors to review the proposal, Aramark said. ``There exists for insiders an opportunity to sell the company to a rival bidder or compete in a bidding war for the company,'' JPMorgan Chase analyst Michael Fox wrote in a report. Fox has a ``neutral'' rating on Aramark. Private-equity firms have announced more than $120 billion of takeovers this year, up from $83 billion in the same period of 2005, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Pressure to meet quarterly earnings targets and abide by new accounting and governance laws have pushed some companies to go private. Leveraged buyout specialists usually borrow about two- thirds of the purchase price to finance acquisitions. Their goal is to improve the operating performance of the companies they purchase, often by cutting costs, and then sell the companies in two to three years to make a profit.

Bexar County Jail, Bexar County, Texas
May 13, 2009 KSAT
Most people can simply run out to the store when they need a jar of peanut butter or a loaf of bread, but people behind bars are a captive audience for such necessities, literally. Inmates at the Bexar County jail are allowed to buy simple things like ramen soup, soap and candy bars at the jail commissary, run by Aramark, but now some wonder if they're not being ripped off. "The prices are just outrageous and ridiculous,” said one inmate. "I think they're outrageous,” said another. “They're terrible." Abel Gallardo agrees. "Here we go baby. Where are we going, HEB?" Gallardo said to his small child as he pushed the child in a toy car near the home they share on the southside. Gallardo is trying to raise two kids while his wife is in jail. He said the jail commissary’s high prices make it hard on families to get by, because money has to be spent behind bars. "They need to treat these ladies and these guys right,” Gallardo said. “Yeah, they committed a crime, well they're sitting in jail paying for it." In a comparison shopping trip, the KSAT 12 Defenders found that a bar of Irish Spring soap is $1.29 in the commissary, but $.75 at a store. Candy bars are $1.09 in the commissary versus $.74 in the store. Chili is $3.59 in the commissary, $1.45 at the store. A tuna pouch is $2.99 in the commissary, $.89 in the store and the ramen soup is $.69 in the commissary, but only $.15 in the store. "It's just straight highway robbery," said an inmate. But the jail said prices here are in line with convenience store prices, not grocery store prices, and that the county takes 35 percent of the profits from commissary profits and puts the money back into inmate services.

Brown County Jail, Brown County, Wisconsin
June 14, 2007 Green Bay Press Gazette
The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision that Brown County Sheriff Dennis Kocken doesn’t have the constitutional power to privatize food service at the jail could cost the county more than $1 million a year. But Bruce Ehlke, the Madison attorney representing the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, said the court’s decision preserves the state legislature’s authority over county offices such as sheriff, district attorney and coroner. “A decision in favor of the sheriff would have substantially impaired the state legislature from having anything to say about county government,” Ehlke said Thursday. “It’s one thing to blow off a few disgruntled employees, but there were very significant constitutional issues here.” The court voted 4-3 that the union could challenge Kocken’s decision to lay off its workers and enter an agreement with Illinois-based Aramark Correctional Services to provide the jail’s food service. Kocken said the privatized service saves the county about $1.1 million a year and allows him to put more officers on the road and at the jail. Kocken was not available for comment Thursday. A spokesman in Kocken’s office said questions should be forwarded to attorney Tom Godar in Madison, who represents Kocken in the case. Godar did not return calls to his office Thursday. Dean Meyer, executive director of the Badger State Sheriff’s Association, which backed Kocken with a friend-of-the-court brief, called the ruling disappointing.

Camden County Jail, Camden, New Jersey
February 17, 2009 Courier-Post
Rodent droppings, improper food storage and plumbing problems afflicted the kitchen at the Camden County Correctional Facility early this month, according to a county health report. A Feb. 2 inspection at the county jail, in downtown Camden, turned up more than a half-dozen health-related violations in the kitchen. It serves about 60,000 meals a day to inmates and staff, according to the inspection report. "The presence of mice throughout kitchen and storage area was evident," according to the report signed by inspectors Chris Naddeo and Caryelle Lasher. They estimated more than 200 mouse droppings had collected there. Responding to media inquiries on Friday, the county administration released a written statement that says that "a corrective-action plan is in motion." "Inspectors will work closely with the Correctional Facility's administration to make sure appropriate policies and procedures are in place and implemented," the statement reads. County jail inmates carry out day-to-day food preparation under the supervision of Aramark Correctional Services workers, the county reported. Aramark manages and operates the kitchen, according to the prepared statement. The jail, the county health department and Aramark are cooperating to address all the problems in the health report, including the cleanliness and food-preparation concerns, the statement reads. Among the problems outlined in the inspection report: Floors in the kitchen were not smooth or easily cleaned. Instead, they were worn and allowed water, grease and food debris to collect. Food was not covered well enough or protected from contamination during storage. Mouse droppings were discovered in some loosely covered butter. External doors near outdoor Dumpsters were not solid or tight-fitting, so they did not protect well against rodents or insects. A slow leak had developed in a storage-room ceiling. Several foods -- grits, chicken, rice and beef -- were not kept at required temperatures. Plumbing systems were not kept in good repair. Some water was draining directly onto the floor.

Campbell University, Harnett County, North Carolina
January 17, 2008 Dunn Daily Record
The Harnett County Sheriff's Office has busted a burglary ring which struck Campbell University student housing during the Christmas holidays. Two suspects have been arrested and Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins said he plans to arrest three more but offered no details. In custody are Terrance Jerel Moore, 21, and 22-year-old Leslie Herman Gaitor, both of Main Street in Buies Creek. Both men have been charged with 12 felony counts each of breaking and entering, larceny and possession of stolen goods. Mr. Moore was employed as a cook at the Chick-fil-A on the Campbell University campus, which is run by the Aramark food management company. An Aramark official declined comment. Sheriff Rollins said all of the suspects in the case except Mr. Moore are former Campbell students. Most of the burglaries took place in Bob Barker Hall, he said. Stolen items included laptop computers, PlayStation games and textbooks.

Cascade County Regional Jail, Cascade County, Montana
October 27, 2005 Great Falls Tribune
The kitchen supervisor at the Cascade County regional jail was arrested at the correctional facility Tuesday for allegedly smuggling illegal drugs, tobacco and smoking paraphernalia to inmates in exchange for a small fee. Kelly Jerad McCann, 21, appeared in District Court Tuesday on charges of transferring of illegal articles to inmates, a felony. McCann is an employee of ARAMARK Corp., a national company the jail contracts with to supply meals at the facility. Detention officers became suspicious when two inmates chosen at random tested positive for marijuana.

Cook County Jail, Cook, Illinois
April 4, 2007 Sun Times
"I'm not going to be a minority front for anybody," declared Chicago businessman Harold Davis. Who asked you to? "Mike Maltese," answered Davis. Davis, the solitary figure you see in the picture, standing alone in a big empty South Side warehouse, called after I'd written about the FBI paying a visit last month to fired Cook County employee Paula Perkins. Perkins' job was to make sure firms like Davis' that applied for lucrative county contracts were run by actual minorities and were not just fronts for thick-necked white guys, a time-honored tradition in these parts. Perkins' axing, some believe, was the result of her doing her job too well. "I know her," Davis told me. "Ms. Perkins' job was to prove that I was not phony." And that she did. After a 14-month evaluation and inspection of his operation, Perkins certified Davis' company, American Enterprise Food Service, as a bona fide African-American business. She reaffirmed that Monday, saying, "When I saw it, it was full of merchandise . . . people were in there working." Perkins' certification paved the way for Davis to win an 18 percent share of $62 million in contracts to supply commissary products (chips, underwear, paper products) to inmates at Cook County Jail. The main contractor, Aramark Correctional Services Inc., is part of a multinational, multibillion-dollar corporation that services 475 prisons across North America, including Cook County jail. It's a Fortune 500 company with a reputation for racial diversity. Davis begs to differ. He claims that Aramark's account executives based in Oakbrook Terrace didn't want a minority partner at all. "They wanted a minority front," he told me as we walked through his empty warehouse on Monday. Exactly who told you that? "Mike Maltese did," he said, referring to Aramark's district manager who has since been transferred to its Kentucky division. Any relation to imprisoned Cicero Town President Betty Loren-Maltese? Not that there's anything wrong with that. Davis said Maltese conceded he was her nephew, but didn't want to talk about it. Maltese did not return my phone calls. Company spokeswoman Sarah Jarvis Tuesday told me, "Aramark does not discuss personnel or contract matters, but we conduct our business with utmost integrity and according to the highest ethical standards." Davis wants to argue that point. He says his contract began in February of 2006 and that from the beginning, the Aramark guys did all the purchasing, hiring and running of the warehouse. Davis said he expected, after a brief training period, that he would take over all of those responsibilities. "I started asking questions," he said. "When was I going to take over the warehouse?" Never, was the the answer he says he got. Maltese, claims Davis, offered him $17,000 a month in "free money" to be a "pass through . . . a dummy company," Maltese allegedly preferring to have one of his own guys do the actual running of his operation. Davis said he told Maltese no. And that, he says, is when, in the summer of 2006, Aramark pulled its merchandise out of his warehouse and stopped paying the rent. The county, however, is still paying Aramark on that contract, though Davis gets none of it. Aramark's spokeswoman said the company couldn't release specifics but terminated the deal "for legitimate business reasons." All of this makes me want to talk to Betty Hancock Perry. Hancock Perry is the head of Contract Compliance, one of the many county departments the feds are currently crawling all over. It was Hancock Perry who fired Paula Perkins earlier this year. And Hancock Perry to whom Davis reported his problems with Aramark, according to letters and memos I've seen. My request Tuesday to interview her was turned down by County Board President Todd Stroger, who issued a statement saying he referred my inquiries to his inspector general but would not "compel any employee to speak publicly about this ongoing investigation." We await the results. I wonder, though, if the FBI's next visit won't be to an empty warehouse on the Far South Side.

October 22, 2004 Sun Times
Aramark, accused of using politics to secure the food service contract at the Cook County Jail, will likely hang onto the contract because it is the low bidder. Bids were opened Thursday and they showed Aramark will charge about 75 cents per meal, compared with 99 cents from Amerimeals and Compass -- which accused Aramark of playing politics last month.

September 14, 2004 Sun Times
A lucrative Cook County contract is being extended three months, as county officials debate how much political patronage has influenced the contract process. Aramark will continue to provide food at the county jail, at a rate of $856,000 a month, while county officials seek bids for a new contract. Aramark signed a $39 million contract in 2000, but with increases, the contract is now worth more than $43 million. Last month, as the contract came up for bid, an Aramark competitor -- Compass, a division of Canteen -- claimed the bid process was rife with troubles, including the influence of politics, and backed out of the bid process, leaving Aramark as the only qualified bidder for another contract. Aramark hired John Robinson and contracted with John Maul, both former aides to Sheriff Michael Sheahan, and Compass claims they influenced the bid process. Compass also said it was denied records and access to information needed to submit a bid. Campaign finance records show Aramark and its many divisions since 2000 have contributed $11,240 to county officials, including commissioners and Sheah

With allegations lingering that the fix was in, Cook County officials were set to open bids Thursday on a $50 million food service contract at the county jail.  But when only one company -- Aramark -- submitted a proper bid, county officials said they weren't even opening it, instead opting to re-bid the contract in hopes of attracting more companies.  Fat chance, at least one of Aramark's competitors said, as Compass Group -- a division of Canteen -- alleges that Aramark has hired enough cronies of Sheriff Michael Sheahan that it is sure to lock up the contract. Both Sheahan and Aramark deny these allegations and Sheahan encouraged Compass to sit down and discuss its concerns with the county.  Aramark holds the contract now, but is accused by Compass of creating unsanitary food conditions at the jail, attracting rodents and airborne disease by leaving food out for several hours before serving inmates. Compass also alleged, in a letter sent last week to county officials, that as it tried to get records to prepare a bid, it was rebuffed time and again.  (Sun Times, August 27, 2004)

A Cook County Board commissioner called on his fellow commissioners Monday to block a $50 million contract for jail food until allegations of bias are resolved.  Chicago Democrat Forrest Claypool made the demand Monday after Crain's Chicago Business reported that a competitor for the contract accused the sheriff's office of not giving it information necessary to bid.  The contractor, Canteen Correctional Services, is competing against Aramark Correctional Services, which employs two former top aides to Sheriff Michael Sheahan and may end up being the only bidder for the job. 
(Daily Herald, August 24, 2004)

A firm that had hoped to oust a politically connected competitor on a huge Cook County contract instead is pulling out of the bidding — complaining of "flawed and biased" county procurement procedures.  In a blunt letter to Sheriff Michael Sheahan and other county officials Friday, Canteen Correctional Services says it will be unable to bid for an estimated $50-million pact to feed inmates at the Cook County Jail because officials haven't given it the data it needs to compete, despite repeated requests.  That means incumbent contract-holder Aramark Correctional Services may face no opposition for a new four-year pact on Thursday, when Mr. Sheahan, who operates the jail, and other officials are due to open bids.  Aramark employs Mr. Sheahan's former top aide, John Robinson, as a lobbyist and vice-president. Mr. Robinson resigned as undersheriff in December 2000, days after revelations that he used sheriff's office stationary to promote a British Virgin Islands-based company that ran an alleged investment scam. He faces the potential suspension or loss of his license as a lawyer over that matter, with a state disciplinary hearing set for Oct. 5.  Aramark also this month retained as a consultant another top ex-aide to Mr. Sheahan, John Maul. He was acting executive director of the jail until last summer.  Aramark, a division of Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., and Canteen are giants in the food-service industry. They've clashed repeatedly around the country, including in Chicago, where U.K.-based Compass' Levy Restaurants unit has held off Aramark for the food contract at McCormick Place.  Still, Compass' Cook County letter is notable for its language and specificity.  The letter also asserts that Aramark's operating procedures are "questionable to any industry standard." For instance, "hot" meals for inmates sit on racks as long as three hours before they're delivered to be eaten, the letter alleges. "Improper storage of food was observed continually" during a site tour and "pest control issues exist," it says.  Aramark, a division of Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., and Canteen are giants in the food-service industry. They've clashed repeatedly around the country, including in Chicago, where U.K.-based Compass' Levy Restaurants unit has held off Aramark for the food contract at McCormick Place.  Still, Compass' Cook County letter is notable for its language and specificity.  Under its current contract, Aramark provides meals at slightly more than 77 cents a serving, according to Mr. Stroger's spokeswoman. That's well under the average of $1.01 the Illinois Department of Corrections spends just to purchase food. The Compass letter implies that Aramark may have cut costs through lowered standards and deferred maintenance.  (Chicago Business, August 22, 2004)

Correctional Treatment Facility, Lucas County, Ohio
March 18, 2005 Toledo Blade
Three Lucas County work-release inmates were taken to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center Wednesday after they ate food that contained what appeared to be metal shavings. Two of the inmates were released from the hospital and returned to the facility, 1111 Madison Ave. One was kept for unrelated reasons, said Jean Atkin, county Common Pleas Court administrator. She said work-release and the Correctional Treatment Facility, 1100 Jefferson Ave., receive food from the county jail, which contracts with Aramark for food service. Treatment facility officials yesterday reported a similar problem, but they thought the pieces were aluminum foil, Ms. Atkin said. She said no one at the treatment facility ate the food, which was thrown away. Rick Keller, corrections administrator, said he did not hear of any food complaints in the jail. Ms. Atkin said a complaint was lodged with the food provider. She said the contract with Aramark is up for renewal soon and that there have been some concerns about the food service. Aramark officials could not be reached for comment.

Cosjocton County Justice Center, Coshocton, Ohio
The new contract for the kitchen crew and the food they serve at the Coshocton County Justice Center comes with good news and bad news.  The two cooks at the jail, Janet Swaney and Vickie McKee, will keep their current salaries. However, the cooks will lose insurance and retirement benefits through the county, and pay twice as much for health insurance with the contracted company.  Details of the contract with Aramark were worked out with administrators at the sheriff's office and the Coshocton County Commissioners.   "We'll be making our current wages, (but) we'll be losing out on several things," she said. "If you don't have a county job, you don't have the retirement. What we've put (into our retirement), we'll get, but it won't continue."  (Coshocton Tribune, July 23, 2004)

Dallas County Jail, Dallas, Texas
October 11, 2006  The Dallas Morning News
Dallas County commissioners voted Tuesday for the first time to award a jail commissary contract, ending a tradition in which the sheriff decided who gets the lucrative deal to sell snacks and other items to more than 7,000 inmates. The roughly $34 million, five-year contract awarded to Keefe Commissary Network is expected to generate more money for the county than the existing contract. County officials who didn't like how the former sheriff handled the awarding of the existing commissary contract moved to get state law changed last year to allow commissioners to decide the commissary vendor. The new law allows the sheriff to designate commissioners to decide the contract. Sheriff Lupe Valdez didn't want to be involved because of past problems, her spokesman has said. Keefe, a St. Louis company, estimated that annual revenue to the county based on sales of snacks, pens, toiletries, playing cards and other items would be about $2.6 million, which is almost four times what the current contractor provides. That contractor, Mid-America Services, was given the contract in 2002 by then-Sheriff Jim Bowles, who was a longtime friend of the owner, Jack Madera. At the time, commissioners complained that other companies offered better financial terms. Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield cast the sole vote against the contract award, saying Aramark offered a better value to the county. He said Aramark offered a slightly higher commission rate as well as $1 million in upfront money, to be paid out each year of the contract. But Commissioner John Wiley Price said Keefe guaranteed the county at least $2 million each year. "The numbers speak for themselves," he said. Mr. Mayfield also said Keefe did not disclose to the county its involvement in a federal corruption investigation in Florida involving a prison contract until after the Justice Department issued a news release about it in July. The county's request for proposals required such a disclosure. The former head of the Florida corrections department and a prison official were charged in July with accepting more than $130,000 in kickbacks from a Keefe subcontractor over two years in connection with a 2003 prison-store contract. "There's a lot of smoke there," Mr. Mayfield said. "I find it incredulous that Keefe did not know they were under investigation in 2004 and 2005." No knowledge: Keefe's chief executive wrote in a July 31 letter to purchasing supervisor Linda Boles that the company had no knowledge of illegal activity related to the case. In a Sept. 11 letter, U.S. Attorney Paul Perez in Florida wrote that Keefe and its employees are considered witnesses in the investigation but that could change. "Nothing in this letter ... shall preclude the United States from later determining that Keefe or any of its employees are subjects or targets of this investigation," he wrote. It isn't the only controversy in which the company has been involved. In 2004, Keefe was found to have charged sales tax on some items that aren't taxable in Texas in connection with a Collin County jail commissary contract. As a result, almost 600 inmates were overcharged more than $5,000, records showed. Because of the error, the Collin County sheriff awarded the contract to a different firm.

Dauphin County Prison, Dauphin, Pennsylvania
September 20, 2005 Patriot News
While Dauphin County Prison's food service vendor has agreed to reimburse the county $65,000, there was no criminal intent behind the overbilling, authorities say. The agreement reached between Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp. and the county district attorney ends a several-month grand jury investigation started last year into allegations of watered-down food and overcharging. Aramark did provide adequate food as called for in its contract with the Swatara Twp. prison, but the investigation showed the county was billed for meals that were not made, said District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr. The $65,000 is for overbilling that occurred in 2002 and 2003, Marsico said. The investigation was spurred by repeated inmate complaints. While there were menu changes under the current contract, Marsico said the investigation found Aramark was providing the required meal content. Aramark officials refused to discuss what went wrong on their end or what steps they've taken to make sure the problem does not reoccur

September 20, 2005 AP
Dauphin County Prison's food service vendor agreed to reimburse the county $65,000 for overbilling during 2002 and 2003, authorities said. Officials said there was no criminal intent behind the overbilling, and Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp. did provide adequate food as called for in its contract with the prison. "I'm very pleased with the amount of money we received," District Attorney Edward M. Marsico said. "I believe it more than covers any loss the county may have had." Masrisco said much of the overbilling occurred because the company had charged a flat amount for meals instead of tracking the actual ups and downs of the jail population, and he said both prison officials and the company would keeping a more careful eye on how many meals actually are provided. Aramark officials declined to discuss what went wrong what steps they were taking to prevent a recurrence. "We fully cooperated with the inquiry and consider the situation to be resolved," company spokeswoman Sarah Jarvis said.

March 19, 2004
A 16-year old Harrisburg boy escaped from a Dauphin County juvenile detetnion center, using a stock to disable a locked door and a walkie-talkie to create confusion.  The teenager, who then outran two guards, remains at large following the escape at about 1 a.m. Tuesday from the Schaffner Youth Center in Steelton.  No one was injured, according to county spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher.  The teen, who was admitted Saturday on unspecified misdemeanor charges, is not considered dangerous. His name and the nature of the charge was not released because of his age.  Two guards have been suspended without pay pending a review of the facility, which is managed by Cornell Abraxas and holds about 65 youths, Kocher said.  "We did have several unfortunate breakdowns in security," she said.  (AP)

Officials are looking into whether a food service company is cutting back on the amount of food served to prisoners. Reporter Chris Schaffer has the exclusive story. When inmates come to the Dauphin County Prison food service giant Aramark provides the food they eat. A few months ago county officials began looking into the company's books, as part of a contract renewal process. They saw documents including years of menus, instructions, and budgets. Dauphin County Commissioner Jeff Haste: "The numbers didn't quite match up - it appeared in our minds that we had been over-billed" (WHPTV February 1, 2004)

DeWitt County Jail, Cuero, Texas
May 9, 2006 The Victoria Advocate
Bookkeeping problems in the DeWitt County Jail commissary should be a thing of the past now that the supplier and office policy have changed, Sheriff Jode Zavesky told county commissioners Monday. Zavesky said he had signed a contract earlier this month with Keefe Supply Company to supply and administer the jail's commissary. "Our last supplier (Aramark) kind of left us dangling," the sheriff said. "They said we were too small an operation and they weren't coming back." Commissioner Curtis Afflerbach asked if the problems with the system that the county auditor reported at the last court's meeting would be resolved with the new company. "We hope to reconcile that the best we can prior to this new contract," Zavesky said. "We've also implemented some changes with our staff that we hope will keep us from getting into the same problems."

Dona Ana County Detention Center, Dona Ana, TX
A Sun-News investigation into allegations of impropriety within Doña Ana County government makes it clear that at least some of the accusations are true.  The allegations, including mismanagement of contracts, failure to follow county ordinances and problems related to the county’s 1999 water system bonds and the proposed county complex to be built on Motel Boulevard, are serious enough to gain the attention of State Auditor Domingo Martinez. The state auditor’s letter contains allegations that the county continued to pay for maintenance services at the Doña Ana County Detention Center after the contract expired in June 2003, and that the county manager signed a contract for $340,000 for maintenance services at the jail though he isn’t authorized to sign contracts over $10,000.  The allegations stem from the expiration of the maintenance services contract between the county and Aramark on June 30, 2003. Jail Director Al Solis gave a contract-extension document to Haines, who signed it, though it was for $340,000.  (Lcsun-news.com, April 4, 2004)

Downview Women's Prison, Banstead, UK
March 27, 2007 IC Surrey
REPLACING prison food with over-priced outside catering fare is a recipe for disaster in a women's jail. This is the opinion of prison visitors whose latest report says inmates much preferred 'porridge' the way it is. Aramark, the company which has taken over the canteen at Downview Women's Prison, is typical of the caterers who have taken over the food at many jails. And the report by the Independent Monitoring Board claims the new system is not being welcomed anywhere. The report says: "We were warned in advance by other independent monitoring boards who had experienced a similar change to expect a disastrous transfer - and it has been. "The decision to privatise the canteen may bring cash benefit to the Treasury but the introduction of Aramark to run the prison canteen has so far been a disaster. "For prisoners the canteen is one of the most important facets of their lives but prices have risen sharply,the inventory has shrunk, revisions take ages to implement and the administration is poor. "In contrast the old prison-run canteen at least understood the needs of the prisoners and charged prices that matched their wages. "It worked and this seems to be the same story repeated throughout as prison after prison has lost control of its canteens." In a report which praises "committed and dedicated" staff, the board said all the faults it found with Downview were beyond their control.

Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
January 19, 2006 The Chronicle
Duke Student Government kicked off its first meeting of the spring semester with an eye toward the future Wednesday night. During the meeting, DSG discussed the upcoming confidence-no confidence vote on ARAMARK, Corp.—the Philadelphia-based company that operates a number of eateries on campus. Every year, DSG votes on whether or not it has confidence in the current dining service. The decision is ultimately brought before the Board of Trustees, which has the final say in whether or not to renew the company’s contract. For the past two years ARAMARK, which operates the Great Hall, the Marketplace, Trinity Café, Subway and Chick-Fil-A, has received a “no confidence” vote from Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee and DSG. The vendor has nonetheless remained on campus. Senior Paige Sparkman, vice president of student affairs, said the upcoming vote is “extremely important” because ARAMARK’s five-year contract is up at the end of this year. “There can be a more drastic result of the confidence-no confidence vote this year,” said DSG President Jesse Longoria, a senior.

DuPage County Jail, DuPage County, Illinois
September 24, 2008 Naperville Sun
Inmates of the DuPage County Jail finally have permanent food service after 18 months of wrangling by competing companies ARAMARK and A'viands. A'Viands was issued a $792,585.92 contract on Tuesday by the DuPage County Board to provide meals to inmates and officers from Oct. 23 to Oct. 22, 2009. The company emerged as the lowest responsible bidder after the contract was sent out for a fourth bid. It's been vying for the contract ever since March 2007, when the first bid was thrown out because of accusations by ARAMARK that A'viands' winning menu did not meet requirements. A'viands has been serving meals at the jail throughout the bidding process, under temporary contracts approved by a county committee. Before that, ARAMARK had fed the inmates for 21 years.

August 22, 2008 Naperville Sun
Inmates of the DuPage County Jail may finally have permanent food service after 18 months of wrangling by competing companies ARAMARK and A'viands. For a fourth time, the companies are bidding for a yearlong contract to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner at the jail. They've been vying for the contract ever since March 2007, when the first bid was awarded to A'viands and thrown out because of accusations by ARAMARK that the winning menu did not meet requirements. Along with another company officials declined to name, both ARAMARK and A'viands agreed Monday to bid on two menus approved by a professional nutritionist. All three companies have until the first week of September to submit prices on one or both of the menus and the lowest bidder will be chosen.

May 29, 2008 Reporter Met
For the fourth time in about a year, the DuPage County Board has extended a temporary contract for food service at the county jail. After Tuesday’s County Board meeting, Chairman Robert Schillerstrom expressed frustration that the process has dragged on for so long. But board member Michael McMahon, R-3rd District, of Hinsdale, who heads the board’s Judicial and Public Safety Committee, said the county should be able to award a long-term contract by the end of June. By the numbers -- $850,000 Annual cost of original contract -- $1.3 million Approximate cost of temporary contracts -- 53 percent increase The board decided in February to open a fourth round of bidding for the food-service contract and extended the temporary contract through May 31. The new extension runs through Aug. 31, but McMahon said the matter should be settled well before then. A’viands, a Minnesota-based company, has been serving food at the jail under a temporary contract since last June. The contract has been under dispute since May 2007, when it was put out for bidding. A’viands was originally awarded the contract, but it was voided after another bidder, Philadelphia-based ARAMARK, objected that A’viands’ bid did not meet nutritional requirements. The original contract with A’viands would have cost the county about $850,000 for a year of food service. The new temporary contract will total about $1.3 million if a long-term deal is not reached before Aug. 31. “Simply put, the County Board can’t make up their mind on (the contract),” Schillerstrom said. “It should have been done a long time ago. There’s no reason for this to have dragged on for so long.” After a second round of bidding, bids by both companies were thrown out because they failed to meet nutritional requirements. For the third round, the county hired a nutritionist to create a menu with which all bidders were required to comply. ARAMARK’s bid of 91.9 cents per meal was slightly lower than A’viands’ bid of 92.5 cents, but county staff members recommended the contract be awarded to A’viands because ARAMARK strayed from the menu, county officials said. To avoid the confusion over nutritional requirements, the county is taking a new approach for the fourth round of bidding, McMahon said. Rather than requiring bidders to conform to a set menu, each company will be allowed to submit up to three menus, he said. A dietitian hired by the county will then review each menu and determine if it meets nutritional standards. The companies will then be allowed to bid on any of the approved menus, including those submitted by their competitors, and the contract will be awarded to the lowest bidder, McMahon said. “I think this is going to prove to be a good approach,” he said. “It should all be over within the next month.”

May 8, 2008 Naperville Sun
Maybe DuPage County Board members got it right the first time they opened competition for a contract to serve food to some 850 County Jail inmates. They approved a fourth round of bidding Tuesday that is almost identical to the original bid more than a year ago. While board members hope this bid will end a long feud between companies Aramark and A'viands over the contract, some say it will lead to even more contention. This time, bidding companies may submit up to three menus to the county, which will then be either approved or rejected by a certified nutritionist. The bidders may then submit prices on any of the approved menus and the lowest bidder will be chosen. The Judicial and Public Safety Committee has conducted and thrown out three bids during the past year. As members tried adding more specific nutrition requirements and then specific menu requirements, Aramark and A'viands either failed to meet standards or raised objections to each other. But committee member Jim Healy of Naperville said allowing bidders to select from a pool of approved menus may just lead to more conflict. "Then you have two parties arguing about fish cakes versus fish patties, orange juice versus orange drink," Healy said. But the county could save money by allowing bidders to select from a pool of approved menus, said DuPage CFO Fred Backfield. "(This) allows a vendor to choose another menu they could make cheaper," Backfield said. As the bidding process drags on, A'viands continues to feed inmates under an extended temporary contract that was first awarded last July. Before that contract, Aramark had serviced the jail for 21 years.

February 24, 2008 Naperville Sun
A company hoping to win another contract at the DuPage County Jail has donated thousands of dollars to elected county officials. Aramark, a Philadelphia-based company that has provided the jail's food service for 21 years, has poured $14,770 into campaign coffers of State's Attorney Joe Birkett, Sheriff John Zaruba, County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom and others since 1999, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. County Board members Brien Sheahan, Debra Olson and Mike McMahon have received several hundred dollars each. In a bidding process fraught with ambiguity and conflict, Aramark has been fighting for more than a year to continue serving food to jail inmates. When the bid was redone for the third time in December, the company submitted a $949,616 bid that was $6,000 lower than that of its competitor, Minnesota-based A'viands. But after the state's attorney's office said Aramark submitted a menu that didn't meet requirements, officials recommended the bid be awarded to A'viands. Aramark's menu diverged slightly by offering breaded fish patties rather than the specified fish fillets and 12-ounce instead of 8-ounce oatmeal servings, Assistant State's Attorney Tom Downing said. Potential savings -- However, County Board members are giving Aramark another shot at the contract, opting for a fourth bid instead of awarding the contract to A'viands. They say the county can save thousands of dollars by changing bidding requirements. Instead of stipulating a specific menu, board members want to mandate only certain nutritional requirements, as was done during the second round of bidding. Allowing bidders to submit their own menu resulted in a bid from Aramark that was $120,000 less than when it followed a menu mandated by the county. That cost difference is enough to justify yet another bid, said Sheahan, calling the whole process "ridiculous." "We're basically having a $120,000 argument over whether milk and oatmeal will fit on a tray, and I think we owe it to taxpayers to make sure we are getting the best value for their money," he said. "We're not interested in spending extra every year so people at the County Jail can eat fish fillets instead of fish sticks." Nothing to hide -- Sheahan said a $500 contribution from Aramark to his primary campaign had nothing to do with his support for a fourth bid. "I really don't care whether Aramark gets it or not," he said. "I want the lowest bid to get it. I think the interest of the committee is just to get the best value for taxpayers." Saying she believes Aramark has submitted responsible bids, Olson, of Wheaton, said she supports a fourth bid to potentially save the $120,000. "This is about saving taxpayers money," said Olson, who noted that she has supported extending the temporary contracts to A'viands. "Any implications that my motivations are other than in the best interests of taxpayers is insulting." Birkett, who has received $3,600 from Aramark, said the campaign contributions played no role in the opinion rendered by his office, which ruled Aramark's bid noncompliant. "If I'm asked for opinion or legal guidance, I give it, free from any political support I've received," Birkett said. The recipient of $4,500 from Aramark, Schillerstrom sided with the state's attorney, saying Aramark failed to meet the menu requirements. "I believe A'viands is the lowest responsible bidder," he said. "I think it's clear that Aramark did not comply with the bid." Zaruba did not return a phone call seeking comment. Nutrition requirements -- Disputes about nutrition requirements have plagued the bidding process, which began last March. After the county declared A'viands the winner of the first bid, Aramark filed a lawsuit claiming its submitted menus were deficient. Schillerstrom upheld the protest, finding that both companies failed to meet requirements and declared a second round of bidding. For the second bid, the county outlined more specific nutrition standards. But both companies fell short, saying it was impossible to meet sodium requirements. In the third bid, the county hired a nutritionist to create a specific menu. While A'viands said the menu gave clear and specific requirements, Aramark disagreed. "It was crystal clear to us that we were to submit a menu that exactly met those requirements, and that's what we did," said Perry Rynders, CEO of A'viands. Rynders expressed "significant disappointment" at the county's decision to hold another bid, saying no one had disputed that A'viands did meet requirements. Temporary contract -- To keep prison inmates fed, the county has issued a string of temporary contracts to A'viands since July. But it's difficult to attract and hire good workers at the jail while the contract remains in limbo, Rynders said. "It's very difficult for us to find staff to work on a temporary basis," he said. "Each time this comes up, they're wondering if their job is on the line. I don't think the County Board understands how difficult this is on us." Aramark spokesman Tim Elliot said the county should return to a nutrition-based bid instead of one based on a menu. That is standard procedure for most of the 700 correctional facilities the company services worldwide, he said. Aramark is a private company that is the 19th-largest employer on the Fortune 500, employing 240,000 workers in 19 countries. Hospitals, eldercare centers, schools, corporations and sports stadiums are among the company's clients. Board member Jim Healy of Naperville agreed with Aramark that the county's "ambiguous" menu should be thrown out in favor of nutritional requirements. "We don't care what you serve as long as you meet the nutritional standards," he said. The county should have stuck with very basic nutritional requirements as it had done until last year, said board member Jim Zay. "This is insane ... the more people we get involved, the worse it gets," Zay said. "This has been costing us hundreds of thousands more because we've been screwing around with it."

Durham County, Durham, North Carolina
September 13, 2005 The Herald-Sun
A report from the county finance office shows that more than half the contractors required to comply with Durham's "living wage" policy have failed to submit payroll records that would show whether they're doing so. The report, forwarded recently to County Manager Mike Ruffin, also alleges that three contractors violated the policy by paying workers less than the required minimum salary, which now stands at $10 an hour. The others on the list are: -- The Aramark Corp., which had two contracts worth $33,429 from the county General Services Department and the Sheriff's Office. -- Carter Goble Associates Inc., which had a $17,000 contract to provide staff to the county jail.

East Baton Rouge Parish Schools, East Baton Rouge, Louisiana
March 19, 2009 The Advocate
A school janitor was arrested in what investigators believe is a crime ring in the thefts of purses, wallets and cell phones from employees at nine public schools in Ascension and East Baton Rouge parishes. Detectives with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested Marnia Marie Parks on Tuesday in the incidents at six schools in the East Baton Rouge Parish school system, said Casey Rayborn Hicks, a Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman. Parks, 20, of 6248 Calion Drive, was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on seven counts of simple burglary, three counts of attempted theft and six counts of unauthorized use of an access (or credit) card. It is unclear whether Parks was also involved in the burglaries of two schools in the Zachary school system and one in Ascension Parish, Hicks said, adding there is a “definite possibility” the cases are linked. Parks worked for Jani-Care, a commercial cleaning company the East Baton Rouge school system uses for janitorial services, when the burglaries and thefts occurred earlier this month at the schools in the district, Hicks said. Detectives believe Parks had at least three accomplices and that she helped those accomplices gain access to the schools through her job, Hicks said. An arrest warrant has been issued for Tronette Leshae Leonard, 19, 803 Peach St. The other two accomplices, one of whom was caught on surveillance video, have yet to be identified, Hicks said. Chris Trahan, a spokesman with the East Baton Rouge school system, said the school system has a contract with Aramark for its janitorial services and that Aramark subcontracts with Jani-Care.

February 23, 2004
The East Baton Rouge Parish school system is holding a series of informational meetings this week to explain to more than 400 custodians, maintenance, groundskeeping and warehouse workers what will happen now that their jobs are in the hands of ARAMARK Inc.    The School Board voted Thursday to approve a $22.5 million contract with ARAMARK, which employs about 216,000 people throughout the world, and it is already taking effect.  The school system has set up an automated 24-hour information line -- 225-226-3794 -- outlining meeting times, and has posted similar information on a link on its Web site, http://www.ebrschools.org. The Web site also has a four-page application for employment with ARAMARK.  This information was also provided in a letter issued Friday to school system employees.  "It is with regret that I must information you are scheduled for separation," said the letter signed by Elizabeth Duran Swinford, associate superintendent for human resources, and Annette Mire, director of personnel services.  ARAMARK and the school system's Human Resource Department are holding separate meetings.  ARAMARK's meetings, to be held in the physical plant training room, 2875 Michelli Drive, will be from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. today and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday. Employees will meet with ARAMARK representatives in groups in order of where their last names fall in the alphabet. An optional meeting will also be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday.  ARAMARK will follow up with interviews from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday with potential employees. Those meetings will be held at the Instructional Resource Center, 1022 S. Foster Drive. Representatives from ARAMARK, the Louisiana Department of Labor, LSU and Baton Rouge Community College will also be on hand.  The Human Resources Department is holding meetings of its own for employees A-L from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday and for employees M-Z from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday. These meetings will focus on questions about payroll, benefits, retirement issues and job-transition options. These meetings will also take place in the Instructional Resource Center.  ARAMARK has yet to lay out what it will pay privatized workers, except to say it will pay "prevailing market wages." Employee organizations that have opposed the deal say already low-paid support workers will inevitably have to take a pay cut. The contract signed by the school system also does not guarantee their employment with ARAMARK.  (Advocate)

East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina
March 10, 2005 The East Carolinian
An ARAMARK cashier working on campus was arrested when found with two financial cards belonging to members of the ECU community. Police said Lawanda Patrice Draughn, 22, worked at Java City in Wright Place when she allegedly kept credit cards from two of her customers. "The two individuals went to Java City and purchased coffee ... and then they walked away without their cards," said Major Frank Knight with the ECU Police Department. Once the victims realized they did not have their cards, they called the credit card company. The company representatives told them purchases had been made since the cards were lost. More than $200 was spent on one card and more than $1,000 on the other. ECU Police went to the stores where the cards were used, spoke with cashiers and viewed store videotapes. "It was good leg work by the police officers," Knight said.

Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky
April 9, 2009 Register News
A Madison County grand jury reinstated an arson charge Thursday against a former Eastern Kentucky University food service worker accused of starting a January fire in the Powell Building. James Reynolds, 26, of Richmond, had initially been charged with third-degree arson, first-degree wanton endangerment and first-degree criminal mischief for allegedly starting a fire Jan. 22 in a trash storage room near the loading dock of the building on the university’s campus. Madison County Attorney Marc Robbins dismissed the arson charge prior to Reynolds waiving a preliminary hearing March 4 on the other felony charges, but the grand jury chose to indict Reynolds on a single charge of first-degree arson. Robbins said the dismissal was because the facts of the case were “just as consistent” with the endangerment and mischief charges as the arson charge. The first-degree arson charge is a Class A felony punishable by 20 to 50 years in prison if convicted. Reynolds originally had faced at total of up to 10 years on the endangerment and mischief charges. Reynolds, who was employed by Aramark, is accused of starting a fire in a storage room that ignited a large stack of cardboard boxes, filling the building with heavy smoke and damaging the loading dock. He is not suspected in a string of October fires on campus that remain unsolved, according to university officials.

March 5, 2009 Register News
An arson charge was dropped Wednesday against a Richmond man who was arrested in connection with a fire at Eastern Kentucky University. James Reynolds, 25, waived his right to a preliminary hearing, sending first-degree wanton endangerment and first-degree criminal mischief charges to a Madison County grand jury for possible indictment. Reynolds and his attorney, Jimmy Dale Williams, appeared briefly before Senior Judge David Hayse, who was on the bench for Madison District Judge Brandy O. Brown, to waive the hearing. Reynolds was arrested Feb. 2 and charged with starting a fire Jan. 22 in a trash storage area in the Powell Building that ignited a large stack of cardboard boxes, filling the building with heavy smoke and damaging portions of the loading dock. Firefighters searched the building, which was not damaged, to ensure it was empty after the fire. Reynolds was working for Aramark, a company which provides food service to the university, at the time of the fire. Madison County Attorney Marc Robbins dismissed the arson charge, saying the facts of the case were “just as consistent” with endangerment and mischief charges as the arson charge.

February 12, 2009 Register News
Madison District Judge Brandy O. Brown continued a preliminary hearing Wednesday in the case of a man charged with arson for a fire at Eastern Kentucky University. The continuance was requested by Madison County Attorney Marc Robbins to allow investigators to complete their reports before James Reynolds’s case is heard. Reynolds is charged with third-degree arson, first-degree wanton endangerment and first-degree criminal mischief for allegedly setting a Jan. 22 fire at the Powell Building on EKU’s campus. The fire, in a trash storage area near the building’s loading dock, filled the building with smoke and caused damage to the loading dock, but no one was injured. Investigators believe the blaze started when cardboard boxes in the room caught fire. Richmond Fire Department crews were able to extinguish the blaze within minutes of arriving on scene. Reynolds was an employee of Aramark, which provides food-service and other services to the university. Marc Whitt, associate vice president of public relations and marketing for the university, said he was unsure if Reynolds was still employed by Aramark because they were a contractor for the school. Several suspicious fires on EKU’s campus last October went unsolved, but Whitt said after Reynolds’s arrest that EKU police do not believe he was connected to those fires. “This appears to be an isolated incident,” Whitt said earlier this month.

February 5, 2009 Richmond Register
An employee of Aramark, the food service company that serves Eastern Kentucky University, was arraigned Wednesday in Madison District Court on several charges relating to a fire last month on the university’s campus. James Reynolds, 25, of Richmond, who was arrested Monday, was arraigned on third-degree arson, first-degree wanton endangerment and first-degree criminal mischief charges in connection with a Jan. 22 fire in the Powell Building, said Marc Whitt, EKU associate vice president of public relations and marketing. The fire started in a trash storage area near the building’s loading dock. According to Richmond Fire Department public information officer Corey Lewis, cardboard boxes stored in the room caught fire, filling the building with heavy black smoke and causing damage to parts of the loading dock area. Investigators with the state fire marshal’s office worked with Richmond firefighters to determine the cause of the fire, and interviewed several people who were near the building at the time of the fire for more information. Whitt said that an investigation by EKU police does not indicate Reynolds was involved in a series of unsolved arsons in October on the university’s campus.

El Paso County, Colorado
August 11, 2005 Colorado Springs Independent
Deputies at the El Paso County jail are in a food fight of sorts and giving inmates the bird. A Sheriff's Office press release of Aug. 3, defending the jail's meals in the wake of a brief hunger strike by inmates, is the latest development in what has become a jail food saga. The release says that on July 30 inmates were served turkey for a fifth consecutive meal, despite protests, and it promises more turkey is to come. The episode comes as the Sheriff's Office faces numerous internal complaints and at least 10 lawsuits filed by disgruntled inmates over jail food. One suit, filed by former inmate Mark Compton, describes the jail fare as substandard. He alleges that each meal was cut back by 25 percent as of March, and that some inmates have reacted by eating scraps from the trash, begging or intimidating fellow inmates for food. Yet complaint forms attached to Compton's lawsuit raise doubts about food quality. Inmate Darius Pinkney wrote that some peaches served in June were "four different colors (i.e. black, green, red and orange). "Some were mushy, some were rock hard," he wrote. "They were in my opinion not fit for human consumption." Other inmates complained about the peaches, too, but were instructed by a deputy not to consume them. "In your handbook, it states to eat around anything not to your liking," the deputy wrote in the official complaint form. Michael Holmes, another inmate, accuses Sheriff Terry Maketa of standing idly by as the jail's food contractor, Aramark Correctional Services, shirks its responsibilities by serving "unhealthy disease causing garbage." Former inmate Mark Compton claims portion sizes at the El Paso County jail were cut by 25 percent per meal.

July 18, 2005 The Gazette
Spoiled milk, rotten fruit and watered-down soup that tastes like dishwater.  Those are some of the items on recent menus at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center, according to inmates who are suing the jail, Sheriff Terry Maketa and the jail’s food-service contractor, Aramark Corp.  Nineteen inmates have filed separate lawsuits since June, claiming the sheriff and jail are violating a state law that requires jails to provide “good and sufficient” food to prisoners.  Since mid-March, food portions and quality have decreased to 25 percent of what they were, according to the inmates’ suits filed in 4th Judicial District Court. Inmates claim they’ve been ignored or harassed when they complained to jail officials about the food.  Some of the suits say Aramark, Maketa and the jail are “endangering the health and safety of approximately 1,300 seemingly innocent prisoners at this facility three times daily, seven days a week.”  Inmates are being forced to eat scraps out of trash cans or beg for other inmates’ food, the suits say. Stronger inmates have resorted to taking food from weaker ones, according to the suits.

Fairfax Connector, Fairfax, Virginia
July 9, 2008 Washington Post
Fares for the Fairfax Connector bus come in $1 at a time, and that's how they left, police said. There was an elaborate system to thwart bus-fare bandits. Somehow, police said, a night-shift worker found a way to open the fare boxes and make off with plastic bags full of $1 bills. A lot of $1 bills. Fairfax County officials said $200,000 to $300,000 was taken from Fairfax Connector cash boxes in the thefts, which started last year. Fairfax police put the total at $326,000. Thong Khoune Sisaath of Sterling, who cleaned and fueled buses at the Herndon depot and handled cash boxes, was arrested July 2 and charged with grand larceny and possession of burglary tools in the case, according to police and court documents. A Fairfax man was also arrested. An investigation is continuing, police said. The cash boxes on Fairfax Connector's 197 buses have electronic safeguards. The boxes are scanned before they are removed to provide a record of how much money the boxes hold. The locked boxes are placed in a vault, where the cash is put into containers. The containers are closed by a self-sealing mechanism and are collected the next day by an armored-car service, said Rollo Axton, Fairfax's chief of transit services. Police said Sisaath found a way around the security measures. "Anytime you get the human factor and greed, you have the possibility of somebody trying to steal," said Kathy Ichter, director of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation. Police said Sisaath would bypass the usual area where cash boxes were scanned and emptied. Instead, she would take the buses to another area at the Herndon depot and use a key to unlock the cash boxes. She would fill the bags with the money and drop the bags, along with the contents of her pockets, into her car, police said. "As she did this she looked around in a suspicious manner attempting to insure she was not observed," according to court documents. Fairfax officials said the county did not lose money because of a contract provision with the private firm that runs the buses guaranteeing that the county receives the amount recorded when the cash boxes are scanned. "The county will not end up absorbing any of the losses on this," said Mike Setzer, vice president of Veolia Transportation in Oak Brook, Ill. Fairfax transportation officials first noticed a problem last fall. The scanned totals from the cash boxes stopped matching the totals on the bank deposits. According to industry standards, the two figures should be within 1 percent of each other, Axton said. "We were getting anywhere from 20 to 30 percent on some days, and that obviously raised the red flag," Axton said. The installation of SmarTrip card readers, which allow cash-less travel, throughout the Fairfax Connector system starting last year made it hard to tell if the discrepancy was a problem with the new technology or a sign of theft, officials said. Audits were begun. On nights when supervisors were present, the cash discrepancy disappeared. When supervisors were not at the depot, money was missing, officials said. Many questions remain, Setzer said, among them: "who got the key and how they got the key and how the system allowed that to happen." A Veolia employee also was arrested in connection with the thefts, according to court documents and police. Carl Rich of Fairfax was arrested July 3 and charged with embezzlement, possession of burglary tools, and conspiracy to commit grand larceny. Setzer said he did not have information on Rich's status. "Some of the people who are involved in this are relatively low-ranking people who shouldn't have had access to any kind of key, so we're still a little puzzled as to how that happened," Setzer said. "Someone else had to help them get access to the key, whether that's our person or someone else." Sisaath worked for a subcontractor, Aramark, which provides staffing for prisons, jails, airports and other sensitive jobs. Sisaath no longer works for the firm, company spokeswoman Sarah Jarvis said. "The behavior you've described is unacceptable and is not tolerated by this company," Jarvis said.

Fairfax County Adult Detention Facility, Fairfax, Virginia
July 25, 2007 The Examiner
Fairfax County Sheriff Stan Barry accepted $1,000 in food for a campaign event from a company the county pays to feed its inmates – a contribution one state senator blasted as an attempt to “buy friendship” from the sheriff. Barry, a Democrat who is unopposed in the November election, denied any impropriety in accepting the donation from Aramark Corp. at a Fairfax City fundraiser on June 7. State Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, however, on Tuesday called the contribution a “cause for cynicism.” “They’re giving him money because their gravy train depends on his position to continue their food contract,” said Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax. “They’re just trying to buy friendship.” The Philadelphia-based company provides food, uniforms and other services to scores of institutions throughout the country, and won a two-year contract in July 2006 to feed inmates and staff of the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. The Sheriff’s Office operates the facility. Exactly how much the county has paid to Aramark since the company started providing meals Sept. 1 was not available Tuesday. Based on estimates in the county’s budget, the company served 1.47 million meals in fiscal 2007, an average of 4,050 a day costing about $1 each. Aramark was the only company to bid on the jail food-service contract, according to Cathy Muse, director of the Department of Purchasing and Supply Management, which oversees the county’s contracting. The Sheriff’s Office reviewed the bid and recommended the county approve it, after which Muse signed off on the contract. Barry said he had no input in that process. “If I was overseeing the contract or [was] instrumental in who got the contract, then I can see where there would be conflict,” he said. “But I’m not involved in those negotiations at all.” He said the fundraiser took place before it was clear no opponents would emerge in the election. The food, he said, included Swedish meatballs, lunch meat and chicken wings. An Aramark spokeswoman said she was unable to find details of the donation by early Tuesday evening and otherwise declined comment.

Fayette County Detention Center, Lexington, Kentucky
October 5, 2007 Lexington Herald-Leader
An Aramark employee who works at the Fayette County Detention Center is suspected of illegally bringing drugs and cigarettes into the jail. Melda Janae Coffman, 32, was charged yesterday with promoting contraband in the first and second degree, said Capt. Darin Kelly, jail spokesman. The first-degree charge was for illegally bringing in drugs. It is a Class D felony offense that can carry a sentence of at least one year in jail. The second-degree charge for illegally bringing in cigarettes is a class A misdemeanor with a minimum sentence of 90 days in jail. After her arrest, Coffman was fired, said Sarah Jarvis, Aramark spokeswoman. Coffman, who oversaw food preparation at the jail's kitchen, began working there on July 19. Kelly said additional charges could be coming.

Florida Department of Corrections
February 9, 2009 St Petersburg Times
Three times a day, the inmates at Madison Correctional Institution discover what a budget deficit tastes like. The scene in the prison chow hall in this quaint North Florida town is repeated across the state as it returns to in-house food service and struggles to cut costs. While the inmate population is growing, the Legislature is cutting spending in the nation's third-largest state prison system. Florida is now coping with the effects of a failed and expensive food-privatization venture of former Gov. Jeb Bush. In 2001, Florida turned over most prison food operations to Aramark Corp., even after Ohio had scrapped a similar experiment with bad results. After seven years marked by numerous irregularities, fines for sloppy service and a state report that flagged the vendor's "windfall" profits, Aramark pulled out of Florida prisons last month. The firm said it could no longer make money due to skyrocketing prices of bread, milk and other staples amid pressure from the state to cut costs. A second, smaller company also left: Trinity Services Group of Oldsmar had served meals at North Florida prisons, including Madison. Now that the vendors are gone, the privatization experiment is officially dead and the state must run an in-house meals program on less money amid the worst budget crisis in decades. In fiscal 2007-08, Florida paid two private vendors a total of $85 million. The current year's food budget is $76 million. Aramark's per-diem rate, or cost per day to feed an inmate, was $2.69. Now it's $2.12, which will force the state to make menu changes to save money.

December 23, 2008 Gainesville Sun
Florida's inmates will soon have a new chef in the kitchen. By the second week of January, all food served in state prisons will be prepared by state employees and inmates. The Department of Corrections is taking over in the kitchen after its two contracted providers, Trinity Food Services and Aramark Correctional Services, terminated their contracts to feed inmates. Both providers have told prison officials that inflation, especially rapidly rising food costs, was a primary factor in their decisions to end their contracts. The department is taking over at a time when the inmate population is growing significantly and the Legislature is cutting expenditures. The 2008 state Legislature cut the department's 2008-2009 food appropriation by $9.25 million to $76.5 million. When the Legislature met in the spring, the inmate population was estimated at nearly 89,000, but earlier this month topped 100,000 for the first time in state history. Prison contracts show Trinity pulled out of the prisons it was serving in November and Aramark will be out of all the prisons it has been serving by Jan. 12. Since beginning to assume control of the prison kitchens, the department has contracted with U.S. Food Services to provide food.

November 13, 2008 Palm Beach Post
A seven-year privatization effort for prison food services is officially over as the state begins taking over meal preparation in some prisons today. But Florida prison officials are unable to pinpoint exactly how much serving nearly 100,000 inmates will save taxpayers, or if it will at all. "We don't have a number right now," Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said this week. Corrections officials were ordered by the legislature this year to trim more than $9.2 million from their annual $83.9 million food services budget by cutting back on calories, changing the meal plan and allowing the two vendors to reduce staff. But prison officials were reluctant to implement reductions because they feared it could lead to inmate uprisings and endanger guards. After rebidding the food services contract and issuing an invitation to bid on just food, the department settled on a $77.2 million contract with U.S. Food Services to supply the food and take over cooking the meals and cleaning up in-house. Lawmakers have been looking for places to trim the state budget all year with as much as $3 billion less in revenue than expected. They could meet as early as next month for another cost-cutting session. "The days of 'trust me' and ask the legislature to just sign off on things are over. People are going to have to justify every cent that the public provides. If it saves money, I'm all for it. But everything's going to have to be proven," said Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, who served on the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee and was appointed Rules Chairman Thursday. Vendors Trinity Food Services and Aramark said they could not cut costs without changing the menu, something else prison officials were reluctant to do because studies show that meal changes create disturbances in prisons. Both Vendors Trinity Food Services and Aramark vendors gave notice this year sent letters to the department earlier this year giving officials notice that they were going to walk away from the contracts. DOC this summer reissued a bid food services and another for food products only. The cheapest bid for food services came from Philadelphia-based Aramark for $96.1 million, Plessinger said, nearly $21.5 million more than their revised budget allows. "We're looking at all of those numbers and we do believe it will come in under $96.1 million," Plessinger said of the new contract. Since signing a contract with the state seven years ago, Aramark has received mixed reviews. There have been questions about food quality, quantity and potential health violations. At times, the company has been fined by the state for failure to meet the specifications of its contract. The company now faces fines of more than $300,000 for violations. Trinity, which serves the region of the state from Madison to Flagler counties, will cease serving food today. Aramark will gradually withdraw from the rest of the state and will be out of the state's prison food business by mid-January. Taking back food operations is "quite unprecedented for a department of corrections," Aramark spokeswoman Sarah Jarvis said. Prison officials they can cut the food price by altering the menu and making other cost savings quickly, Plessinger said. The department will realize 100 percent of the savings by changing the menu to cheaper items instead of splitting that with the vendors, she said. The plan includes having inmates grow more of their own food and training them as cooks, Plessinger said, part of DOC's efforts to prepare inmates for release. "We think this is going to be a win for everybody. First and foremost for Florida taxpayers because this is the best way for us to cut our food budget. It's also a win for our inmates because it's going to expand training programs for them," Plessinger said, while maintaining prison safety.

September 10, 2008 St Petersburg Times
Food service vendor Aramark soon will cut ties with Florida prisons, bringing to an end another privatization venture begun when Jeb Bush was governor. Hired in 2001 to replace a state-run food system, the company, often criticized by the state for cutting corners and maximizing profits, said it will stop serving meals Jan. 9. That leaves the cash-strapped prison system four months to find a new way to deliver food to the nation's third-largest prison population, which has more than 92,000 inmates. Aramark told the Department of Corrections on Tuesday that it will invoke a 120-day termination clause in its contract. The company cited "unprecedented" inflation in food costs and a poor working relationship with the state. "We have been unable to achieve the type of partnership consistent with our expectations for a positive long-term relationship," wrote Tim Campbell, president of Aramark Correctional Services. The stormy seven-year tenure between the Philadelphia-based food giant and the Department of Corrections has deteriorated in recent months. This year alone, the state fined Aramark $261,000 for violations ranging from long lines to excessive substitutions of menu items. Food in prison isn't just a necessity. Many corrections experts consider it a key to keeping inmates under control and to avoiding lawsuits alleging inhumane treatment of prisoners. "Food really becomes a security issue for us," Corrections Secretary Walt McNeil said recently. He complained of Aramark cooks substituting lower-quality ingredients for beef or turkey. Under pressure by the state Legislature to cut costs by $9.3-million without sacrificing quality, McNeil last month invited other vendors to submit bids in hopes of finding a company willing to earn less. A review last year by the prisons' inspector general found that Aramark earned a "windfall" because it was allowed to serve cheaper ground turkey instead of real beef, and was paid based on the number of inmates, and not on the actual number of meals served. The report urged a rewriting of the contract or restoring food service to an in-house operation. "The state rushed into it, and like most shotgun weddings, the marriage has been pretty tortured," said Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach.

May 12, 2008 Palm Beach Post
One of the two companies that feed state prisoners has racked up nearly $250,000 in fines since the beginning of the year for violations including not having enough food and staffing shortages. That brings the total fines for Aramark to more than $864,000 since 2001 when the state hired private companies to take over feeding the more than 92,000 inmates in Florida prisons. More than $300,000 of Aramark fines have been rescinded by the Department of Corrections. Corrections officials are questioning Aramark's ability to provide quality food in sufficient quantities. The officials also say they are concerned about the company's staffing levels. "We have certain standards regarding foods for inmates that we're not prepared to see relaxed. We want to make sure they jibe with our standards," Corrections Chief of Staff Richard Prudom said of Aramark, which is negotiating a new contract with the state. One recent concern was an outbreak last month at the Santa Rosa Correctional Institution where almost 300 inmates became ill. The cause of the illness remains under investigation and no one is blaming Aramark, but corrections officials have not ruled out that the food caused the illness. Aramark spokeswoman Sarah Jarvis said the food was not the cause. "There are a lot of different reasons why inmates, especially in close quarters, can get ill," Jarvis said. "It can be close quarters. It can be sewer systems." Corrections officials took the trays and tested them and stool samples of inmates for food poisoning, Jarvis said, and the results were negative. Corrections officials said Monday they have not received the results and the investigation is ongoing. Aramark has been fined for running out of food, not having enough staff and diverging from the meals agreed to in its contract with the state, according to DOC records. The department let Aramark off the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines under former Corrections Secretary Jimmy Crosby, now in prison for taking kickbacks from contractors.

March 29, 2008 Palm Beach Post
Mushy bland broccoli stems accompanied by a greasy mystery meat endowed with undercooked rice is as good as it gets for inmates behind bars. But, according to the vendor who provides the food and some lawmakers, that's still too good. They want to cut as much as $11 million from prison food contracts as part of an effort to pare about $3 billion from next year's state budget. Prison officials fear that cutting the food budget will lower the quality of meals that are already bland and cause unrest among inmates. Anger about meals is the No. 1 reason for inmate uprisings, according to corrections officials, and menu changes imperil safety for prison guards, inmates and the public in general. "We think any reduction to (the current menu) that is not a change for health reasons poses a risk to public safety," said Department of Corrections Chief of Staff Richard Prudhom. "It may sound overly dramatic, but we strongly believe that." The state pays nearly $79 million per year to two food service vendors - Philadelphia-based Aramark and Oldsmar-based Trinity Services Group Inc. - for the bulk of the food that is purchased for Florida's more than 92,000 inmates. The state now pays $2.67 for three meals a day for each inmate. Lawmakers in the House want to reduce that cost to $2.30 a day. Aramark representatives have convinced some lawmakers that the state can save millions by reducing calories fed to inmates. The company wants to go back to a menu it once served that prison officials say was unacceptable. While the current menu is better then the old one, some inmates still complain about the food. "I don't eat it. I just come here to give it away," Calvin Mayes, an inmate at Jefferson Correctional Institution in Monticello, said after a lunch of Spanish rice and broccoli. Instead, he spends about $150 a month at the prison canteen to buy food. "The quality of the food is substandard," said a relative of an inmate at Marion Correctional Institution in Lowell, who asked not to be named because she feared retaliation against the prisoner. "The preparation is haphazard. They're supposed to wear hairnets and gloves. You find hair in your food and you find a Band-Aid in your food. Things are so overcooked it's mush, or it's not cooked at all." Sen. Tony Hill recently asked the legislature's Joint Auditing Committee to conduct an investigation into the Aramark contract, and Aramark spokeswoman Sarah Jarvis confirmed that the state auditor general is also looking into it. "When you've got people boycotting the food altogether, that's a problem," said Hill, D-Jacksonville. Some inmates, like Donald Jones, say the food is the best it has ever been. But food quality is less important to some lawmakers than saving money for taxpayers. The Senate has proposed slicing $6 million from the current prison food budget, while the House wants to cut $11 million. "We're talking about substantial savings," Jarvis said. "They way the savings come about is by making better use of the ingredients served. For instance, replace French toast with pancakes." Jarvis said that Aramark's spending for food has tripled since the initial contract was established in 2001. Aramark wants to do more than change the menu. The company also is proposing cutting back on the number of workers it provides prisons, shifting the responsibility to corrections officials. Guards would have to fill in, posing a problem for an already understaffed corrections system that could lose 1,800 guards under the Senate proposal, according to corrections officials. Since signing a contract with the state seven years ago, Aramark has received mixed reviews. There have been questions about food quality, quantity and potential health violations. At times, the company has been fined by the state for failure to meet the specifications of its contract. Critics suggest the proposed new contract is really an attempt by Aramark to make more money by paying less for food. The company is paid not by the number of meals consumed but by the number of inmates. If fewer inmates eat the food, Aramark can save money by providing less food. In February, Aramark-served institutions had an 85 percent participation rate of inmates eating the company's meals. Trinity, which serves food to about one quarter of the state's inmates, had a 97 percent participation rate. A state audit of the Aramark contract last year found that the participation rates equated to a "windfall for the vendor" and that Aramark substituted low-cost foods, such as turkey instead of beef, without passing the savings on to the state. Aramark representatives and corrections officials both say those problems have been resolved. Trinity this month canceled its contract with the state, giving it until August to renegotiate because, the company claims, it is losing money on the deal. Corrections officials said they will meet with Trinity and Aramark next week to discuss their contracts.

February 16, 2008 Miami Herald
Sweat dripping from his brow, union representative Bruce Raynor promised a crowd nearing 100, including two state lawmakers, that he wouldn't rest until food service provider Aramark is stripped of its contract with the Florida Department of Corrections. At the sidewalk rally outside downtown Miami government buildings Friday, Raynor, the president of the Unite Here union that represents more than 20,000 Aramark employees nationwide, accused the company of collecting millions of dollars of taxpayer money by charging for meals that were never served and using substandard ingredients in food preparation. ''We are sick and tired of hard workers and taxpayers having their pockets picked by greedy corporations,'' Raynor said. ``We want to call on the attention of state officials.'' The allegations are based on a January 2007 Department of Corrections internal audit that states Aramark's practice of charging the state per inmate and not per meal served resulted in ''a windfall for the vendor,'' which reduced Aramarks costs by $4.9 million per year. However, Department of Corrections and Aramark officials claim the unions are using the audit to push a labor-related agenda, and that the issues in the report have been resolved. 'As far as Aramark getting a windfall profit, we don't believe that's the case,'' said DOC spokesperson Gretl Plessinger. ``The contract is now a really good deal.'' According to the audit, the company was being paid for more than 6,000 meals per day that it didn't serve. Still, Plessinger said the DOC renewed its contract with Aramark last year, with changes partially based on the audit's findings. In a Jan. 30 letter to Tim Campbell, Aramark's president, DOC secretary James McDonough wrote: ``It is our department's position that Aramark has acted faithfully to abide by both its former and its current contract with the department.'' While union representatives claim Aramark used cheaper meat products to cut corners, McDonough said in the letter all food changes were approved by a DOC committee, and inmate meals in Florida meet ``minimum health standards.'' Kristine Grow, an Aramark spokesperson, said the unions' accusations are based on ulterior motives: ``This is more about allegations to get us to agree to their demands than it is about our clients or taxpayers.'' At the rally, State Sen. Tony Hill and State Rep. Luis Garcia said they would explore starting a state probe into DOC's contract with Aramark.

Florida officials are gambling with prison safety by continuing to employ Aramark Corp. as the principal food service provider for the state's correctional facilities. Since the company took over prison kitchens last year, it has continually violated regulations designed to promote sanitation and safety within the facilities. Their five-year contract, part of Gov. Jeb Bush's plan to reduce payroll by privatizing many state operations, is expected to cut prison food costs by $8-million in its first year. But quality has been one of the first ingredients sacrificed by Aramark's cost-cutting measures. State officials have yet to push the company to comply with prison regulations or to find a food service provider that will. The Times' Thomas Tobin recently reported that, under Aramark, daily logs kept by corrections officers across the state have described filthy kitchens, frequent meal delays, attempts to serve spoiled, watered down or undercooked food and a chronic inability to follow a state rule requiring all inmates to receive the same meal -- a security measure to prevent petty food jealousies from escalating into fights. Florida has already assessed $110,000 in fines against Aramark. But compared with the profit the company will earn in its first year, that's hardly the crackdown needed to force the company to mend its reckless ways. If the company cannot live up to its promises, the state needs to find a food service provider that can. Florida inmates deserve better service and corrections officers deserve to work in as safe an environment as possible. Gov. Bush and corrections secretary Michael Moore have been warned repeatedly about Aramark's unsafe practices. If a food riot breaks out and someone is killed, state officials will have some explaining to do. (St. Petersburg Times, July 2, 2002)

Hiring Aramark to feed prisoners has saved the state millions, but the company faces fines and fears over guard safety. Take any cross-section of Floridians and poll them about prisons. Few would care that, one day last February, lunch at the Madison Correctional Institution featured a particularly soupy batch of sloppy joes. But corrections Capt. Hugh Poppell took notice right away. He saw the prison's new civilian food service staff dilute the entree even more, adding ketchup and tomato paste to make it stretch among the 700-plus inmates still lined up to be fed. Poppell reported what he saw to warden Joe Thompson, who quickly investigated and found the workers had shorted the recipe by 70 pounds of ground beef and turkey. The warden also noted: "The other ingredients such as onions, celery and green peppers in the entree were not observed." Far from a show of concern over the inmate palate, the officers were heeding an age-old canon of prison administration: A hungry, discontented inmate is often a problem inmate -- and a potential threat. The culprit in the sloppy joe episode and scores of other recent food foibles across Florida was Aramark Corp., the cost-conscious Philadelphia company hired last year to feed inmates in 126 of Florida's 133 corrections facilities. The contract is part of Gov. Jeb Bush's push to reduce payroll by privatizing many state operations. But a rocky first year has prompted the state to assess $110,000 in fines against Aramark. Though the company has saved money for Florida, its stewardship over the state's prison kitchens has created a new set of concerns for frontline corrections officials, including: dirty kitchens that in one county produced maggots, frequent cooking delays that throw off prison schedules, food quality that often falls beneath expectations and a chronic inability to follow a state rule that requires every inmate to receive the same meal. So vigilant is Aramark's cost-cutting that a supervisor ordered workers to scoop food from pans in a way that wouldn't jam too much into the ladle, said Norma Schamens, 33, an Aramark employee for three months in Gulf County before she was fired in May. "There were some decent meals," she said. "But they were few and far between." "Any corrections officer will tell you that when inmates don't get fed right, that's where the riots start," said Al Shopp, a former corrections officer who monitors working conditions in prisons for the Florida Police Benevolent Association. "It's an officer safety issue . . . It's just a situation that I'm afraid will eventually go awry." Before Aramark, Florida corrections officers cooked meals. "It was like a military operation. You got them in, you got them fed and you got them out," Shopp said. "There were bumps in the road, but nothing like it is today." (St. Petersburg Times, June 17, 2002)

Fresno County Jail, Fresno, California
September 23, 2008 Fresno Bee
Fresno County is looking for a new vendor to supply food to jail inmates. Aramark Correctional Services notified the county that it is terminating its contract and will stop providing meals to the jail Nov. 20. A company spokeswoman said the contract is no longer profitable because of rising food costs. Spokeswoman Sarah Jarvis said the cost to purchase food has tripled. Last November, board members signed off on a five-year, $30.2 million deal with Aramark. The deal lowered the per-meal cost, from $1.24 to $1.12, and required Aramark to pay utility costs associated with use of the county's central kitchen. The company recently tried to increase its profits by proposing a program called "Fresh Food for Inmates" that would allow inmates to purchase a special hot meal once a week. Inmates would have been able to purchase items such as cheeseburgers, nachos, chili cheese fries and burritos. But Board Chairman Henry Perea called the proposal "ridiculous." "It's insane to even be considering such a program," he said. "I can't tell you how much this upsets me." County supervisors said they would allow other companies to bid on the contract. Aramark said it's interested in rebidding, but county officials said they want to see whether they can exclude the company from the process. Aramark also provides meals to the juvenile detention facility and the county's psychiatric units. County supervisors indicated that they may look for separate vendors to supply food to those areas. Supervisor Bob Waterston also wants the county to consider having inmates cook and prepare their own meals.

Fresno County Juvenile Hall, Fresno, California
June 28, 2006 KFSN
An investigation is underway into a troubling discovery at Fresno County's juvenile hall, where a rodent head was found inside a dinner meal. The current juvenile hall in southeast Fresno has been plagued with concerns about overcrowding and other unsafe conditions. A new $142 million facility is set to open south of Fresno to take its place. Juvenile hall officials are confirming a rodent head was found in a meal served there. They are investigating just how the foreign object got into the dinner meal served to a young offender. Chief Probation Officer Linda Penner tells Action News, "It looked to be like a small mouse head between bread that was served to a minor at the facility." Environmental health officials are investigating how the rodent head may have gotten into a dinner meal served on Sunday, June 18th. Meals are prepared at the Fresno County central kitchen by a company named Aramark. The county memo sent to employees says, "There have been no similar allegations from the jail facilities ... and the county regularly inspects the operation to ensure proper handling of food."

Fulton County, Fulton, Georgia
March 22, 2007 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fulton County will take a step back and ask more companies to bid on a contract to feed inmates at the Fulton County Jail. Fulton's County Commission voted unanimously Wednesday for a 90-day deferral on a vote to hire a food service provider for the jail and satellite facilities. County purchasing officials are to use the delay to advertise the contract in national publications that cater to the corrections industry. Commissioners weren't pleased by a staff recommendation to hire Gourmet-ARAMARK Correctional Services, which the county fired two years ago. Some commissioners drilled into the county's purchasing guidelines because they give a big bonus to companies that have an office in Fulton County. Commissioner Robb Pitts said Gourmet-ARAMARK would have won the contract even if all three bidders had scored the same in every category but one — location. For the sole reason that it was the only company with a physical address in Fulton County, the company outscored its competition and won the staff's recommendation, Pitts said. Chairman John Eaves said he didn't understand why Gourmet-ARAMARK got the nod when its $4 million bid was the highest of the three that were submitted. It was about $1 million higher than the low bidder. Eaves made the motion to defer the vote. Felicia Strong-Whitaker, a deputy director of the county's purchasing department, said the county's purchasing guidelines state that cost makes up 25 points of the formula used to recommend a company for this type of contract. A company gets an automatic 10 points if it has an office in Fulton County, she said.

February 21, 2007 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Amid allegations of bid rigging and corruption, Fulton County commissioners agreed Wednesday to rebid a lucrative food service contract at the county jail. County Attorney O.V. Brantley said Wednesday she's launched a probe into the allegations, but Commissioner Robb Pitts said any investigation should be turned over to state or federal agents. "Someone seems hell bent on giving the contract to this firm," Pitts said. "I'm going to find out why.... This is serious stuff...This needs to be investigated, not in house but by someone outside." The Trinity Services Group won the original contract in 2005, but it expired more than a year ago. When it was rebid in December, Trinity received the recommendation, even though it was the highest bidder of the three, according to county records. One of the firms that was rejected filed a formal protest with the county, and the other filed a letter, also with the county, claiming employees were pressured to change bid evaluations to ensure that the deal stayed with Trinity. Charles Mathis Jr. said his client, Meat Masters Inc., was the rightful winner of the contract with a bid that was $850,000 lower than Trinity's $4.1 million offer. They only failed, Mathis said in his letter, because county employees were pressured to doctor the bid evaluations. "Meat Masters should legitimately be awarded the contract," Mathis wrote. Two county employees, Sgt. Chandra Hall and former Chief Jailer Charles Felton, provided written statements to Meat Masters that they had been directed to change the contract evaluations to boost the results for Trinity. The Board of Commissioners has copies of the letters, which were also obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Both said they were threatened that if they went before commissioners with Meat Masters as the bidder they would be hammered. The other bidder, Gourmet-Aramark Correctional Services, has alleged collusion involving the other two bidders since Meat Masters was included as a subcontractor on the winning bid by Trinity. Lawyer Michael Coleman, who served as hearing officer for the complaint, issued a ruling on Feb. 16 that recommended Fulton rebid the deal. "Due to the questions raised by the county's rejection of Gourmet-ARAMARK's proposal and the collusion claims involving Trinity and Meat Masters, the appropriate remedy is to cancel the current RFP and re-issue a new RFP," Coleman found.

A company accused of serving bad food to senior citizens is moving on.  Aramark has voluntarily given up a $700,000 contract to prepare food for seniors and the homebound in Fulton County.  An 11Alive News investigation last month revealed numerous complaints about the company’s services ranging from spoiled and outdated milk to deliveries of fish that were not fully cooked, clumps of grease on food and one report of a roach found embedded in meat.  Earnestine Yarborough, a senior citizen, said she got chicken that was badly undercooked. "It was pink water running out of it and pink next to the bone,” Yarborough said.  (11alive.com, August 4, 2004)

Giants Stadium, New Jersey
December 3, 2008 Star-Ledger
The family of a young girl paralyzed in a drunk-driving accident nine years ago received a $25 million settlement from Aramark Corp., the Giants Stadium beer vendor whose employees continued to serve the intoxicated fan who caused the crash. The settlement with the family of Antonia Verni, who is now 11, took place last year but was not disclosed until today, when a state appeals court ruled that sealed documents in the case must be made public. Antonia, a quadriplegic who requires a ventilator to breathe, received $23.5 million in the settlement, said the family's lawyer, David A. Mazie of Roseland. Her mother, Fazila Verni, received $1.5 million for injuries she suffered in the crash.

October 25, 2007 The Record
On a fall Sunday eight years ago, Antonia Verni of Cliffside Park was sent to a harsh prison, probably for the rest of her life. Her incarceration does not include steel bars, stone walls and stern guards, though. Antonia's prison is far more merciless. On that Sunday, a man who later said he was "beyond drunk," drove his pickup truck head-on into the Verni family's Toyota Corolla. Antonia was paralyzed from the neck down. She was only 2 years old and was returning with her mother and father from a trip to pick pumpkins. Antonia now spends her days in a wheelchair, hooked to a breathing machine and monitored by a nurse. Over the course of her life, her parents, who quit their jobs to care for her, may have to come up with as much as $32 million to pay all of Antonia's medical bills. The fiery crash on Terrace Avenue in Hasbrouck Heights, which also left Antonia's mother partially blind, galvanized national attention to the dangers of drunken drivers. But it raised other questions, too: What about those who serve booze to drunks? Are servers guilty? If not, why not? The drunken driver, Daniel Lanzaro, a Cresskill carpenter and father of two young sons, spent that tragic day swilling the equivalent of three six-packs of beer, mostly inside Giants Stadium. When he rammed his truck into the Verni car, his blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit. Didn't anyone who sold beer at Giants Stadium or at area bars later visited by Lanzaro notice that he was blind drunk? As you might expect, this tragedy landed in court. Lanzaro pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of vehicular assault and was sentenced to five years in prison. The Verni family filed a lawsuit, and won a historic $135 million judgment, with $105 million of it to come from the stadium beer vendor, Aramark Corp. Aramark appealed – no surprise there. Nor was it surprising that lawyers for Antonia's family and Aramark privately worked out a settlement, approved last week by a Bergen County judge. What's surprising – and sad -- is that the judge sealed the records. This pivotal chapter of Antonia's story needs to be told, not locked in a judicial file drawer. We've heard many times how drunken driving wrecks innocent lives. Indeed, such stories are important. But we also need to explore other, wide-ranging implications of drunken driving, especially for those who sell booze in taverns or at public sporting events. Our government issues liquor licenses to these vendors. Why shouldn't taxpayers know more about them? Sealing records in such an important court case does not add to constructive discourse. It puts a damper on it. In reaching an agreement with Antonia's family, Aramark issued a statement claiming it "settled the litigation without any admission of wrongdoing." It merely paid Antonia's family – as if that means nothing. Antonia's parents seem satisfied that the settlement will cover their daughter's medical bills. That's good news. But why not disclose the amount? Knowing the size of the judgment might be a warning to vendors to be careful. And why allow Aramark to avoid admitting any responsibility? Or was that question dropped from discussions? More important, was Giants Stadium required to take additional steps to make sure tipsy fans are not served at future events? Open those records. It's the only way to be sure.

September 7, 2006 Star-Ledger
Lawyers for a Bergen County girl paralyzed in a drunken-driving accident have asked the state Supreme Court to review her case against the beer vendor at Giants Stadium, claiming the issues could affect drunken-driving policies in New Jersey. The attorneys argue that a state appeals court erred in August when it overturned a landmark $135 million jury verdict against the stadium vendor, Aramark Corp., and a fan whose drunken-driving accident left 2-year-old Antonia Verni of Cliffside Park paralyzed. The appeals court ordered a new trial, ruling that testimony about the "culture of intoxication" at the stadium should not have been presented to the jury. Antonia's attorneys disagree. "If this decision is allowed to stand, it will emasculate the ability of victims of drunk driving to go after liquor establishments that serve visibly intoxicated patrons, by eliminating certain evidence that can go before a jury, and that's not what the law ... intended," said Antonia's attorney, David Mazie, who filed a 25-page petition to the state Supreme Court on Tuesday.

August 3, 2006 AP
A New Jersey appeals court on Thursday overturned a landmark $105 million verdict against a Giants Stadium concessionaire that sold beer to a drunken football fan who later caused an auto accident, leaving a girl paralyzed. The three-judge appeals panel ruled that the trial court erred by improperly allowing testimony about the “drinking environment at the stadium” and ordered a new trial should be held. “The admission of this evidence cannot be considered harmless. A central theme of plaintiffs’ case was the culture of intoxication at the stadium,” the court wrote in its 65-page ruling. Last year, a state judge in Hackensack rejected an effort by Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp. to throw out or reduce the verdict. Its vendors sold beer to Daniel Lanzaro, of Cresskill, during a 1999 New York Giants game just hours before he caused a car crash that left then-2-year-old Antonia Verni paralyzed from the neck down. In January 2005, a Bergen County jury said Lanzaro and Aramark should pay a total of $135 million in damages. At the time, legal experts said it was the largest alcohol liability award in the United States in at least the last 25 years. Aramark’s portion of that award included $30 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages.

May 31, 2006 NewJersey.com
Lawyers for a food-service giant that was ordered to pay $105 million to the family of a Cliffside Park girl paralyzed in a drunken-driving crash argued Tuesday that the victim's father shares responsibility for her condition. Antonia Verni was 2 years old when a truck driven by a drunken Cresskill man slammed head-on into her family's sedan on Terrace Avenue in Hasbrouck Heights on Oct. 29, 1999. A Bergen County jury in January 2005 ruled that employees of Aramark Corp. irresponsibly sold beer to the drunken driver, Daniel Lanzaro, contributing to the crash. The jurors awarded more than $135 million in compensatory and punitive damages – an amount many lawyers believe is the largest ever in such a lawsuit. Aramark is liable for $105 million and Lanzaro the rest. Arguing before a state appellate panel in Trenton on Tuesday, Aramark attorneys lambasted Superior Court Judge Richard Donohue for dismissing evidence that they said should have been admitted during the civil case in Hackensack. For one thing, they contended, Ronald Verni had strapped Antonia in an adult seat belt instead of a child restraint. The impact jolted her head forward, breaking her neck and causing the paralysis, they said. Antonia's mother, Fazila Baksh Verni, was the only other person seriously injured in the crash. The woman, who the lawyers said wasn't wearing a seat belt, was hospitalized for two months and left partially blinded. "Everyone walked away from the accident, except Antonia and her mother," said Aramark lawyer Michael Rodburg. However, he said, the jurors in Hackensack were never allowed to review that evidence during the trial. "This was a smear case against Aramark," he said. "And the judge allowed it."January 26, 2006 Star-Ledger
A lawyer for an 8-year-old paralyzed car crash victim has filed a motion to expedite the appeal of a $135 million jury verdict, most of it against the beer service company at Giants Stadium. Attorney David Mazie of Roseland said the state appellate court should speed up the case because his client, Antonia Verni, is ventilator-dependent and has been unable to get the 24-hour nursing care that experts on both sides of the case recommend. Neither Antonia nor her mother, Fazila, has been able to collect the money while the case is pending, Mazie said. "It's very unusual to file an appeal to expedite," Mazie said. "It's only done in the gravest of cases. We think her situation is one such case. This is to prevent something catastrophic from happening." Last January, Antonia and her mother were awarded $135 million in compensatory and punitive damages, most of it against Aramark Corp., the concessionaire at Giants Stadium. A jury determined there was a "culture of intoxication" at the stadium and found Aramark guilty of serving a visibly drunk fan who later caused the car crash that left the Cliffside Park girl injured. Aramark appealed, but a state appellate court could take until September to hear arguments. Antonia's court-appointed legal guardian for the case, Albert Burstein, said the second-grader can't wait that long to collect her award. He said the family only has limited access to about $500,000 collected in settlements from third parties. "There's not enough money to match the daily costs of taking care of Antonia," Burstein said. "If we were to do the job we would like to do on her behalf, which means round-the-clock care by professionals, it adds up very rapidly." Antonia has a nurse during school hours, paid for by the school district. Her mother, who has no formal medical training, cares for Antonia at home.

September 25, 2005 San Francisco Chronicle
Fans who drive after drinking excessively at 49ers or Raiders games, or any other sporting event, would be well advised to consider the plight of an 8-year-old New Jersey girl. And a vendor who sells an intoxicated fan another beer should think not only about the little girl but about the multimillion-dollar judgment a jury ruled she and her family were entitled to receive earlier this year from the New York Giants' concessionaire. "Concessionaires throughout the country are well aware of that case," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. In January, a jury awarded $135 million to the family of Antonia Verni, who was paralyzed from the neck down in a car wreck caused by a drunken football fan. The fan is serving a five-year prison sentence, and the concessionaire whose employees sold him beers when he was already clearly intoxicated will pay the family $110 million unless the verdict, currently on appeal, is reduced or reversed. The NFL, the 49ers and the Raiders say the Verni case was a wakeup call for the league and the people who serve fans millions of dollars worth of beer and other alcoholic beverages each season. Like other pro sports leagues, the NFL is heavily intertwined with beer companies. Their signage is as much a part of stadiums as the goalposts, and their commercials form the backbone of the league's TV sponsorship. Attorney David Mazie said from his office in Roseland, N.J., "Quite frankly, I haven't heard anything that demonstrates the NFL and teams have changed their policies on serving alcohol -- other than paying lip service. I haven't seen anything at all." Mazie called the verdict against Aramark "a milestone" in holding a concessionaire accountable. "There may have been settlements before, but I'm not aware of any verdicts. Clearly, it's a landmark, not only because of its size but because of the punitive damages."Lanzaro "was trashed" when the accident occurred, Mazie said. "I'm sure there were 5,000 others in the same condition (driving away from the game)." "As long as you're not falling down, they'll serve you," Mazie said of Aramark employees. "The person who trained them said that. But by the time you're slurring your speech or stumbling, your blood-alcohol is between .10 and .15. Anything above .08 is drunk driving, so what they're saying is they'll still serve people when they're at twice the legal limit." "There are a series of signs -- slurring of speech, talking a lot, not being able to hold themselves up straight," spokesman David Freireich said from the firm's headquarters in Philadelphia. Aramark is a founding member of the Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management (TEAM) Coalition, a nonprofit group that advises pro sports leagues and sponsors designated-driver programs at McAfee Coliseum and other parks, Freireich pointed out.

March 4, 2005 USA Today
A state judge on Friday upheld a $105 million verdict against a Giants Stadium concessionaire for selling beer to a drunken football fan who later caused an auto accident, leaving a girl paralyzed. State Superior Court Judge Richard J. Donohue in Hackensack rejected an effort by Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp. to throw out or reduce the verdict. Its vendors sold beer to Daniel Lanzaro of Cresskill during a 1999 New York Giants game hours before he caused a car crash that left then 2-year-old Antonia Verni paralyzed from the neck down. "It sends a message to Aramark and other beer concessions around the state that they have to change their ways," said David Mazie, a Roseland lawyer representing Verni's family. Aramark's portion of that award included $30 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages. Interest accruing daily has brought the company's total to nearly $110 million, according to Mazie. The family claimed Aramark vendors sold beers to Lanzaro at the stadium in East Rutherford even though he was clearly drunk. The company, they said, fostered an atmosphere in which intoxicated patrons were able to buy more.

January 21, 2005 Reuters
The family of a girl paralyzed in a car crash caused by a drunken football fan won $105 million in damages from the concessionaire that sold him beer, and the girl's father said on Thursday the case should have far-reaching effects. The Superior Court jury in Hackensack, New Jersey, assessed punitive damages on Wednesday against Giants Stadium concessionaire Aramark Corp., for its role in the October 1999 accident that left Antonia Verni, then 2 years old, paralyzed from the neck down.

January 18, 2005 AP
A jury awarded $60 million Tuesday to the family of a girl paralyzed in a car wreck caused by a drunken football fan. Ronald and Fazila Verni were headed home from a pumpkin-picking trip in 1999 with their 2-year-old daughter, Antonia, when their car was hit by a truck driven by Daniel Lanzaro, 34. Antonia was paralyzed from the neck down. The family sued Aramark, the Giants Stadium concessionaire, claiming vendors sold beers to Lanzaro even though he was clearly drunk and that Aramark fostered an atmosphere in which intoxicated patrons were served. The stadium also mandates that fans can only buy two beers at a time -- a rule Lanzaro sidestepped by tipping the vendor $10, allowing him to buy six beers.

January 14, 2005 WNBC News
Jury deliberations have begun in a civil lawsuit filed by the family of a 7-year-old girl who was paralyzed when a drunken football fan on his way home from a New York Giants game crashed into the family's car. The family claims Aramark, the Giants Stadium concessionaire that sold beers to the fan, was partly responsible for the crash in Hasbrouck Heights. The family claims Aramark vendors sold beers to Daniel Lanzaro at the stadium even though the Cresskill man was clearly drunk and that Aramark "fostered" an atmosphere where intoxicated patrons were served, which is against the law.

January 12, 2005 NewJersey.com
An admitted alcoholic who slammed his truck into a Cliffside Park family's car, paralyzing their 2-year-old daughter, wasn't visibly drunk when he bought beer at Giants Stadium earlier that day, an alcohol expert told jurors Tuesday. Robert J. Pandina, a psychology professor and director of the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University, said Daniel Lanzaro of Cresskill couldn't have had more than five or six beers inside the stadium. The parents of the injured girl are suing Aramark, the food-service company that holds the liquor license at the stadium, saying it sold alcohol irresponsibly to Lanzaro. Lanzaro, a 35-year-old carpenter and father of two, left a Giants game on Oct. 24, 1999, and crashed his truck head-on into the car of Ronald and Fazila Baksh Verni in Hasbrouck Heights. The crash seriously injured Baksh Verni and left the Vernis' daughter, Antonia, a paraplegic. The family is suing Aramark under a state law that holds vendors liable for damages caused by patrons who were served alcohol while visibly intoxicated.

December 9, 2004 Star-Ledger
Sitting in her wheelchair with a stuffed doll propping her head, unable to move her arms or legs, 7-year-old Antonia Verni told a jury yesterday what she wants to be when she grows up. "I want to be a singer, a rock star, a kindergarten teacher and a ballerina," Verni said, her melodic voice filling the tiny courtroom. Two jurors cried. Others shifted in their seats. Doctors say the Cliffside Park girl will never be able to walk as a result of a car accident when she was 2 years old, when a drunken football fan rammed his truck into her family's car as they were driving home from pumpkin picking. Verni testified on the second day of a civil trial in Superior Court in Bergen County in a case against Aramark, the Giants Stadium concessionaire that sold beers to the fan who crashed into the Vernis, Daniel Lanzaro.

December 9, 2004 NorthJersey.com
A drunken driver who rammed his truck into a young family's car in Hasbrouck Heights - paralyzing a 2-year-old girl for life and landing himself in prison for five years - openly admits that he was "beyond drunk" in the 1999 accident. But the buck doesn't stop there, lawyers for the Cliffside Park family contend. Aramark's beer servers, who sold more than a dozen beers to the driver at Giants Stadium during a game, are equally responsible, say the lawyers, who have taken the battle to the multinational food-service conglomerate. As a civil trial opened Wednesday in Superior Court in Hackensack, the first witness for the Verni family was Daniel Lanzaro, the drunken driver, who is still in prison. Lanzaro is a defendant, but is penniless and is testifying willingly. He testified that Aramark concession stands - contrary to state law and the company's internal rules - sold alcohol at the stadium to visibly intoxicated patrons. Aramark's lawyer, Brian Harris, told the jury during his opening statement that Lanzaro was a seasoned drinker who didn't display signs of intoxication when he was drunk. Even though Aramark's beer sellers are trained in identifying intoxicated people, Lanzaro fooled them, he said.

Hendry Correctional Institute, Immokalee, Florida
A 35-year-old woman authorities say bought cocaine from an undercover sheriff's deputy to take inside the walls of the Hendry Correctional Institute was arrested Wednesday night. On Wednesday, Collier County deputies received a tip from the state Inspector General's Office in the corrections department about a cocaine delivery involving Quashie, who worked for Aramark Food Service. She was trying to get some cocaine to take into the prison for an inmate. (Naples Daily News, October 5, 2001)

Hutchinson Correctional Facility, Hutchinson, Kansas
December 9, 2006 Hutchinson News
A former Aramark Services employee who worked inside the Hutchinson Correctional Facility was sentenced to one year, three months in prison Friday for trying to bring methamphetamine inside the prison. Joseph L. Delancy of South Hutchinson pleaded guilty to trafficking in contraband in a correctional facility, possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell and unlawfully arranging a drug sale by a commercial device. He faced up to four years, 11 months in prison. Delancy's attorney, Kerry Granger, asked for a lesser sentence and cited his client's drug use starting as "a misguided attempt to deal with the death of his son."

June 24, 2006 Hutchinson News
Drug detectives arrested a South Hutchinson man employed in the Hutchinson Correctional Facility dining hall for allegedly purchasing drugs he planned to sell to prison inmates. Joseph Lamont Delancy, 33, worked for Aramark Services, which provides food service for part of the prison. According to police reports, Delancy made phone contact with a drug enforcement detective about buying an ounce of "Ice" methamphetamine. The detective set up the drop, and Delancy allegedly arrived and accepted the drugs from the detective. The report indicates Delancy said he planned to sell the drugs in the correctional institute and attempted to set up another buy with the detective. Delancy is being held on $25,000 bond on suspicion for possession of meth with the intent to sell, a drug tax stamp violation and unlawfully arranging a sale by a commercial service.

Illinois Legislature
September 15, 2004 Sun Times
Scott Fawell, once a golden boy of Illinois politics, cut a deal with federal prosecutors Tuesday that put his lover's fate over the future of former Gov. George Ryan, a man once like a father to Fawell. Fawell, a former top aide to Ryan, pleaded guilty to a bid-rigging scheme and is already providing prosecutors substantial assistance in their corruption case against Ryan, the Sun-Times has learned. Fawell is also giving information on Ryan's friend, Republican businessman Lawrence Warner, and other potentially high-profile investigations not yet made public. On Tuesday, Fawell pleaded guilty to leaking inside bid information in 2001 on an $11.5 million contract to oversee expansion at McCormick Place. The company that got the contract was Jacobs Facilities Inc., a client of Fawell's friend, Ronan. Fawell ordered his girlfriend, Coutretsis, to give the details to an employee of Ronan's. In Fawell's plea agreement, he admitted providing inside information to help two other Ronan clients while Fawell oversaw McCormick Place and Navy Pier -- food service giant Aramark, and LaSalle Bank, which wanted the ATM contract at Navy Pier, according to the plea and sources.

Indiana State Prison, Michigan City, Michigan
September 12, 2008 South Bend Tribune
A contractor was arrested Friday morning at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City for reportedly attempting to smuggle tobacco into the facility, according to a news release. During a routine search of contractors and prison employees, two bags of tobacco weighing a combined 8.8 ounces were found hidden in an Aramark food services employee’s shoes, the release stated. The employee was charged with suspicion of trafficking with an incarcerated offender, a Class A misdemeanor.

June 25, 2008 The News-Dispatch
A contractual food service employee was arrested for trafficking early Sunday morning at the Indiana State Prison when he allegedly brought marijuana into work. Thomas Fly, 25, was seen with marijuana, wrapped in plastic, falling out of his pants leg while reporting to work at 3 a.m., said Barry Nothstine, spokesman for the prison. Prison staff recovered the drug, which weighed two ounces. Indiana State Police took Fly to the La Porte County jail, where he was charged with attempting to traffic with an offender, a Class C felony, and possession of marijuana, a Class D felony. Nothstine said he did not know how long Fly had been assigned to the facility. He has been employed by ARAMARK Correctional Services since 2000. The prison has been contracted with ARAMARK for the past 18 to 24 months, he said. Nothstine said there is no indication so far as part of the investigation that Fly has brought drugs to the prison in the past. "The investigation report that I have seen does not indicate that," he said.

Jackson County Adult Detention Center, Pascagoula, Mississippi
February 26, 2009 The Mississippi Press
State health officials said they have not yet determined the cause of a salmonella outbreak earlier this month at the Jackson County Adult Detention Center, but that the illness has been contained. State Health Department spokeswoman Liz Sharlot said Wednesday that the investigation into the cause may take up to four weeks to complete. Aramark spokeswoman Sarah Jarvis said the food service company is working with state health officials in the investigation. Aramark has been the food service provider for the jail for at least 16 years, and the company purchases and prepares all food at the jail, according to the county. "There were 80 inmates who complained of flu-like symptoms, but there were only four that the hospital determined had salmonella," Jarvis said. She noted the illness could have come from something other than a food item, such as improper hand washing or improper storage of food. "We are looking at everything," she said. Sharlot confirmed 80 inmates complained of symptoms between Feb. 6 and 14 but couldn't say how many of those had salmonella.

February 19, 2009 The Mississippi Press
State Health Department officials were trying to determine Wednesday what gave 80 maximum-security inmates food poisoning beginning last week and resulted in five prisoners being taken to a local hospital this week. Liz Sharolt, director of communications with the state Health Department, said there were 80 prisoners in the Jackson County Adult Detention Center complaining of gastrointestinal illness, or salmonella sickness, from Feb. 6-14. "But, the illness has run its course, and there are no new cases to report," she said. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd said Wednesday five inmates were taken to Singing River Hospital on Monday, where it was confirmed that they had a salmonella-related illness. The sheriff said four prisoners were treated and released Monday, but one inmate remained hospitalized Wednesday afternoon. The inmate was in good condition Wednesday, Byrd said, and should be released soon. "They mainly suffered from diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and throwing up," Byrd said. He added that two prisoners experienced a low-grade fever. Byrd said he believes the bacterial food-borne illness was not caused by peanuts or peanut butter, but possibly by lettuce. He added that ARAMARK World has been the food service provider for the jail for at least 16 years. The company purchases and prepares all food at the jail. Byrd said the international company is conducting an independent investigation. Officials with ARAMARK's home office in Philadelphia, Pa., were unavailable for comment Wednesday.

September 27, 2006 The Mississippi Press
Overcrowding at the Jackson County Adult Detention Center should ease in the near future. The Jackson County Board of Supervisors approved an additional steel fabricated facility on the ADC grounds in Pascagoula. The $1.2 million facility will house 116 inmates. It is expected to be ready in five months. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd said relief from overcrowding is a critical issue. "We're just doing what we have to do to maintain what we have. It's very stressful. We have done shakedowns where we have found weapons which is very dangerous to officers. We had a contract employee with Aramark, we just caught her last week bringing drugs into the facility. Everyday is a challenge just to maintain things on a day to day basis," Byrd said.

Kane County Jail, Kane, Illinois
January 10, 2008 The Daily Herald
Aramark, the Kane County jail's longtime food service vendor, has come under fire by a union-affiliated group. Four representatives of the Campaign for Quality Services, a group formed by two labor organizations, on Tuesday asked the Kane County Board to examine its contract with Aramark in light of complaints against the company filed across the country. Aramark is accused of billing the Florida Department of Corrections for meals that were never prepared or eaten and failing to pass on the cost savings for serving less expensive food items to inmates, according to an analysis conducted by Florida's inspector general last year. Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez said he is aware of those and other complaints against Philadelphia-based Aramark, which has provided food to county jail inmates since at least 1996. Perez said he and his staff are evaluating Aramark and other vendors in light of the jail's pending relocation from Geneva to a new building in St. Charles Township. "Obviously moving into the new facility, we're reviewing all of our operations. The kitchen is one of them," Perez said. "It's entirely possible that we're going to open this up to bid. … This may be an opportunity for us to look and see could we get better service and could we get it for a better price." An Aramark spokeswoman dismissed the Campaign for Quality Services' concerns, saying the group is interested only in increasing union membership.

Keller School Board, Keller, Texas
November 14, 2008 Keller Citizen
Three years after assuming management of the maintenance and operations departments in the Keller school district, officials are lauding improved upkeep of facilities and savings from preventative measures and green initiatives. In September 2005, the school board voted to terminate a contract with Aramark Education to manage district maintenance, custodial and grounds workers. A survey of facilities and payroll practices showed very little preventative maintenance performed, equipment in poor condition and widespread abuse of overtime among workers. The district’s lawsuit against Aramark, filed in February, is ongoing. Aramark generally denies the district’s accusations of negligence. Shortly after the contract was ended, district administrators put an in-house management team in place and created a plan for the upkeep of facilities and systems. They limited the amount of overtime and more closely monitored employees. "It is 100 percent better than it used to be," deputy superintendent Mark Youngs said. "There is an attitude of customer service. They actually want to be of service, and the principals are giving them high marks." Youngs said that an outside management team can benefit by minimizing services, but the district’s in-house directors are trying to do as much as they can within their department budgets. David Farmer, a trustee since 1997, said he didn’t hear nearly as many complaints about facility upkeep as he heard during Aramark’s tenure. "With it being in-house, our staff members are much more directly involved in day-to-day requests," Farmer said. "There was a disconnect in the past of what needed to happen and what was happening." In an October report to the board, officials said that maintenance and operations departments are achieving improvements without a large increase in funds. The 2006-07 budget year included $1.4 million for operations; the current budget year has $1.3 million set aside for the department. Board President Bob Apetz said he was encouraged that the department could find ways to save despite the growing district. "They are looking outside the box to curtail costs and still provide all the services," Apetz said.

September 20, 2005 Star-Telegram
Keller school trustees voted unanimously Monday to fire Aramark Management Corp., a company paid more than $1 million annually to supervise custodians, grounds and maintenance in the district. Aramark has 30 days to leave the district, and district employees will take over, Assistant Superintedent Bill Stone said moments after the vote. The company was hired in September 1999 to oversee district employees, including custodians, groundskeepers and maintenance workers. Their five-year contract was renewed for another five years in 2004. But in recent months, complaints from district employees and trustees have grown. And on Aug. 17, Veitenheimer sent a letter to the company saying the district "is considering termination of the agreement." According to the letter, about one-third of the money paid to Aramark does not cover anything tangible, but is for an "added value" the company will bring to all tasks. That value has not been realized, officials say. Custodians voice "an almost constant complaint" that they do not have the supplies and materials they need to keep buildings clean. And district officials are not certain they are getting what they pay for. The district paid Aramark just over $25,000 to furnish cleaning equipment needed at Liberty Elementary School, the district's newest campus. But guidelines suggest the typical cost for equipping a new elementary school runs $5,000 to $10,000 less, according to the letter.

Lee County Jail, Sanford, North Carolina
November 3, 2005 Sanford Herald
District Attorney Tom Lock will not pursue charges against a former Lee County Jail kitchen employee, who was under investigation for allegedly buying food with jail funds and using them in his private catering business. Lock asked the State Bureau of Investigation to conduct a probe into the issue after it was brought to him in March by Herb Hincks, the chairman of the Lee County Board of Commissioners, who told Lock that he'd heard that the chief cook at the jail was diverting jail food to his own business. "After reviewing the SBI's report, I have concluded that there is no credible evidence upon which to lodge any criminal charges against the suspect," Lock said in a press release on Tuesday. Lock said the SBI reviewed a number of "suspicious" receipts and invoices for food purchases from various food vendors, interviewed Hincks, as well as county commissioners Amy Stevens and Ed Paschal, Lee County Finance Director Lisa Minter and finally the suspect. There was at least some evidence that Hincks' concerns were shared by others: n Both Stevens and Paschal told the SBI they'd heard similar allegations against the suspect on a second-hand basis. n Minter told the SBI that she had concerns about what the county was paying for meals in the jail compared to other counties. But Lock said that there was "no substance" to the allegations. Lock said some of the most compelling evidence came from the suspect himself, whom neither Lock nor sheriff's department officials would identify other than by his title, "chief cook." Lock's press release indicates the cook "denied stealing any food from the Lee County Jail or diverting any food products for the jail to his personal catering business." Lock also said the suspect submitted to an SBI polygraph test in August and passed it. The suspect still works in the jail's kitchen, but not as a county employee. In the summer, the board of commissioners voted to contract all kitchen duties to Aramark, a private company. Bryant said he's not sure if it saves the county money, but he likes the arrangement.

October 2, 2005 Sanford Herald
District Attorney Tom Lock says his review of the investigation into whether an employee with the Lee County Jail illegally diverted food to his own catering business is nearly finished. The allegation is that the jail kitchen employee, who runs a private catering business, was ordering food through the jail and taking it to use at his own business. The employee, who has not been named publicly by either the sheriff's department or by Lock, still works at the jail but not as a county employee, according to Kevin Bryant, chief deputy of the Lee County Sheriff's Office. Rather, he now works for Aramark, a company the county began contracting with for food services in the spring.

September 5, 2005 Sanford Herald
State Bureau of Investigation officials are promising to deliver a report about the possible misuse of food supplies at the Lee County Jail to the district attorney in the near future. SBI agents have been investigating a former jail employee for several months on suspicion that he diverted food from the jail to his private catering service. At the onset of the investigation in March, SBI agents said it would take them a matter of days to resolve the matter and hand a report to District Attorney Tom Lock. Six months later, SBI Agent Jerry Weaver says a report will be handed to Lock "soon."

August 9, 2005 Sanford Herald
A State Bureau of Investigation probe into a former Lee County Jail employee is still ongoing. The investigation began in March and, at the time, SBI officials said it would take three to four days to complete. District Attorney Tom Lock asked the SBI in March to investigate allegations that a jail cook was ordering food through the jail and then diverting some of it toward his own private catering service. The employee - who still works in the jail's kitchen but no longer as a county employee after Lee County commissioners voted to contract with Aramark for food service in the jail - has not been publicly identified.

Mammoth County Jail, Mammoth County, New Jersey
April 10, 2009 Asbury Park Press
A new vendor will begin serving up meals to Monmouth County inmates and youth detainees May 1, thanks to last month's ruling by a Superior Court judge that county officials erred in awarding a three-year contract to a higher bidder. Gourmet Dining LLC of Madison will take over the work — but only after the county makes one final payment to rival vendor Aramark Correctional Services LLC for providing the food service while the contract was in dispute. The county freeholders on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution paying Aramark $729,000 for service from the start of the year until April 30. The amount covers 488,000 Monmouth County Jail staff and inmate meals at $1.35 per serving and 733 religious meals at $3.82 each; plus 21,500 detainee and staff meals at $2.92 each at the Youth Detention Center. Both facilities are in Freehold Township. "The resolution is necessary as part of the court decision to change vendors, because Aramark continued vending services past the date of the former contract," Purchasing Director Gerri C. Popkin said.

March 6, 2009 Asbury Park Press
A Superior Court judge has set aside a prison food contract award to Aramark and ordered the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders to pass a resolution giving the work to a lower bidder, Gourmet Dining LLC of Madison. Judge James P. Hurley said the freeholders -- acting on a recommendation from the Sheriff's Department -- were wrong to toss out Gourmet Dining's bid on the basis of lacking substantial experience from past work in prisons. Gourmet Dining's attorney, Thomas P. Scrivo, argued during a Feb. 18 hearing that the company had served over 40 million meals when it held Essex County jail contracts from 1991 to 2004. "Gourmet's 13 years of experience providing on-site meals speaks to Gourmet's compliance with the specifications,'' the judge said in his written decision issued today. County taxpayers will be on the hook for legal fees from the case but will save money on the change in contract. The county will pay $155,360 less annually than it would have paid Aramark, and could save $466,000 over the life of the three-year contract. The contract also allows for two one-year renewals. Aramark held the previous contract that expired in December and has continued as the vendor during the period of dispute. Gourmet Dining's one-year bid price is $2,836,514 compared to Aramark's $2,992,000. Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Cynthia Scott said no date has been selected for the change in vendors to occur. "The freeholders still have to act by resolution but as a practical matter we plan to move forward with a smooth transition,'' Scott said. "The Monmouth County Sheriff's Office always welcomes competition and plans to work closely with Gourmet Dining to ensure that the comparable level of quality and quantity of food services will be maintained at the jail.'' The case was heard in Superior Court in Middlesex County after being transferred from Monmouth County.

February 10, 2009 Asbury Park Press
Arguments will be heard by a Superior Court judge today over whether Monmouth County should be ordered to reopen its $3 million contract award for prison food so that a lower bidder can be considered for the work. Acting on the recommendations of the Sheriff's Office and county purchasing officials, the county freeholders voted unanimously in December to award the contract to feed inmates at the Monmouth County jail and youth detention center to Aramark, a Philadelphia-based company that has held the contract since 1991. Gourmet Dining of Madison submitted a bid of $2.5 million, about 18 percent lower than Aramark's bid, but the low bid was rejected because county officials said the company lacked jail experience. However, Gourmet Dining attorneys are expected to argue today the company served some 42 million meals to inmates in the Essex County jail system from 1991 to 2004. The case will be heard by Middlesex County Superior Court Judge James P. Hurley. The challenge was filed by Gourmet Dining in Monmouth County, then transferred to Middlesex.

Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas
June 11, 2009 Fox 26 News
FOX 26 News has learned the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission may be going after at least one of the liquor licenses at Minute Maid Park. This comes almost a year after an Aramark manager was involved in a drunken driving crash that claimed the life of a Houston man. Aramark is the food and beverage vendor for Minute Maid Park. In that August 2008 crash, David Hall Jr. was allegedly hit and killed by 70-year-old Ray John Wilson, who had just left the Astros game. Sources close to the investigation tell FOX 26 News the beverage commission may attempt to file a civil case to have at least one of the alcohol licenses pulled at the ballpark. Sgt. Mike Burnett with the beverage commission would not comment on camera. However, he did say there is an administrative case against the vendor Aramark, the license holder at the ballpark. Wilson has been behind bars at the Harris County Jail since the crash last year. He's set to go on trial next month for manslaughter. Hall Jr.'s father says he would like to see the liquor license at the stadium pulled. He says not only the driver but those who sell the drinks are ultimately responsible. FOX 26 News called management at the Astros for comment, and they referred us to Aramark. Officials with Aramark issued the following response: "We take the responsible service of alcoholic beverages very seriously and have industry-leading standards in place at each venue where we provide food and beverage services. We do not comment on pending matters."

Monterey County Jail, Monterey, California
January 11, 2006 The Salinas Californian
Illness has spread at the Monterey County Jail, leaving about 75 inmates with diarrhea and stomach cramping in what the county Health Department says might be a food-borne outbreak. Reports of sickness at the jail infirmary started Sunday, and by Monday morning, 20 inmates had complained of diarrhea and bloody stool, the jail announced. As of Monday night, 75 cases had been reported, the Sheriff's Office said. "We can be pretty confident that it's a food-borne illness," said John Ramirez, assistant director of environmental health at the Monterey County Health Department. The jail had another outbreak in June, when at least 112 inmates complained of flu-like symptoms including nausea, diarrhea and high fever. Investigators determined that infection began after some inmates hoarded food to make tamales that later became spoiled, Liebersbach said. As of now, it appears the illness might have started with a chicken dish that was improperly cooked, he said. The jail's Philadelphia-based food provider, Aramark, did not return calls on the incident.

Morris County Jail, New Jersey
June 23, 2005
In the usual scenario, people caught using heroin go to jail, but last week authorities discovered the obverse is also true: People who go to jail get caught using heroin.  Two women, Mount Olive Township resident and former state prisoner Karen Ryerson, 42, and Newark resident Leslie Harwell, 36, a worker in the Morris County Jail cafeteria, were charged with heroin distribution.  Harwell is employed by Aramark, a Pennsylvania-based food service company. She was arrested Sunday after allegedly selling drugs inside the jail, according to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.  She was charged with possession of heroin and possession with intent to distribute. She is being held in a cell in the jail where she worked on $50,000 bail.  Ryerson was arrested Monday after authorities determined she had been the supplier of the heroin to Harwell. She was charged with possession of heroin and heroin distribution. She is being held in the Morris County jail on $100,000 bail.  According to the Prosecutor’s Office, a corrections internal affairs officer had learned last Thursday that Harwell was allegedly selling the drugs. Harwell was allegedly able to bring in the drugs because employees are not searched upon entry, Rubbinaccio said. Harwell has been employed at the jail since mid-May. Aramark employees prepare food in the jail’s kitchen and help train inmates in food preparation. She has no criminal record, Rubbinaccio said.

New Mexico Department of Corrections
May 31, 2006 New Mexican
A state prison contractor involved in the investigation of a relationship between Corrections Secretary Joe Williams and a lobbyist contributed $10,000 to Gov. Bill Richardson's re-election campaign. The political-action committee for Aramark -- a Philadelphia-based company that makes millions of dollars a year to feed New Mexico inmates -- contributed to Richardson's campaign in May 2005, according to Richardson's most recent campaign-finance report. That was about a year after Aramark renewed its contract with the state Corrections Department. Aramark also has been generous to the state Democratic Party, contributing $10,000 in 2004, and the Democratic Governors Association, which Richardson chairs. The company contributed a total of $15,000 to the DGA in 2004 and another $15,000 in 2005, according to reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Aramark provides food service to more than 475 correctional institutions in North America. The corporation also has food-service contracts in colleges, hospitals, convention centers and stadiums. Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley referred questions about the campaign donation to Richardson's campaign manager, Amanda Cooper, who couldn't be reached for comment. The Governor's Office announced this week that Williams is being put on administrative leave while the state Personnel Office investigates his relationship with Ann E. Casey, who registered as a lobbyist for Aramark and Wexford Health Services, which provides health care to New Mexico inmates. Casey is an assistant warden at an Illinois prison. A copyrighted story in the Albuquerque Journal said Williams' state-issued cell-phone records show 644 calls between Williams and Casey between Sept. 24, 2005, and Feb. 23. According to that report, Casey was hired as a consultant by Aramark in 2005, but that contract has since been terminated. Aramark's $5.4 million contract ends in July. The Secretary of State Office's Lobbyist Index lists Casey as a lobbyist for Wexford, though the Journal report quotes a Wexford official saying the company never hired her. In 2004, a $10,000 contribution to a Richardson political committee from Wexford's parent company caused a stir and later was returned to the Pittsburgh company. The Bantry Group made the contribution to Richardson's Moving America Forward PAC in April 2004. This was during a bidding process just a month after the Corrections Department requested proposals for a contract to provide health care and psychiatric services to inmates. That contract potentially is worth more than $100 million, The Associated Press reported. In August 2004, a Richardson spokesman said the money would be returned "to avoid even the appearance of impropriety."

May 30, 2006 AP
Gov. Bill Richardson has put Corrections Secretary Joe Williams on unpaid leave while the secretary's recent actions are investigated. Richardson said the review will focus on Williams' use of a state-issued cell phone, a state-funded trip that included some personal travel and his relationship with a lobbyist. "Gov. Richardson wants a thorough investigation to examine the secretary's actions and determine if anything improper occurred," said James Jimenez, Richardson's chief of staff. "The governor sets a very high ethical standard for his administration and will not tolerate any level of abuse of authority or public trust." A spokeswoman for the Corrections Department said Williams was unavailable for comment. State Personnel Director Sandra Perez will conduct the investigation through her office, Jimenez said. Williams will be on unpaid leave until June 9, the day Perez's office is to report to the governor. The Albuquerque Journal reported Sunday that Williams spent about 91 hours on his state-issued cell phone talking with Ann Casey, an assistant warden at a state prison in Centralia, Ill. The calls between the two phones were placed between Sept. 24, 2005, and Feb. 23, 2006. Casey registered as a lobbyist in 2005 for two companies that have contracts with New Mexico to provide health care and meals to prisoners. Williams described his relationship with Casey as a friendship and said he doesn't give preferential treatment to anybody. Richardson also is questioning a trip Williams took to Nashville on the state's dollar. In January, Williams attended a conference of the American Correctional Association. His travel records show he added a St. Louis leg to the trip, which he said was personal. A 30-mile drive from the St. Louis airport would land Williams at an address in O'Falcon, Ill., which Casey listed on lobbyist registration forms. Records show Williams wrote a check to his department in January for $266, the cost of adding the St. Louis trip. While on the trip, Williams and Casey accepted a dinner invitation from a company that operates a state prison in Santa Rosa, according to Williams' e-mail records. A billing statement for a hotel stay during the trip also lists two people in his party, but Williams would not say who the second person was. Richardson appointed Williams, a former warden at the Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs and former warden at two state prisons, as corrections secretary in 2003.

Prison food is not supposed to taste great, but inmates in two state-correction institutions said this week that their food had taken a turn for the worse in recent days while inmates in a third facility staged a widespread boycott of meals earlier this week.  Only 44 of the 330 inmates at the minimum-security facility in Los Lunas showed up for lunch Wednesday because of complaints about the food, Corrections Department spokeswoman Tia Bland confirmed Thursday.  "We've had nothing but ground turkey for days," an inmate at the state prison in Las Cruces told a reporter Thursday. "It's terrible. You can't eat some of this stuff."  Meanwhile, an inmate at the state prison in Grants said his prison kitchen has been serving a soy-meat substitute, which he described as tasting like cardboard .  Under that new contract, the company receives about 20 cents less for each meal served.  "That does change what is offered," Albert said.  (The New Mexican, July 9, 2004)

North Elementary School, Godfrey, Illinois
August 22, 2006 The Telegraph
A part-time custodian with Aramark, the firm hired last year to clean Alton schools, was charged Monday with felony theft for allegedly stealing four laptop computers from North Elementary School. William D. Gray, 53, of the 1200 block of Rodemeyer Street, Alton, was charged after school staff members noticed the computers missing over a period of weeks and called the Madison County Sheriff's Department. Bail was set at $30,000. Lt. Brad Wells said Gray is suspected of carrying the computers out of the building in trashcans and placing them in bins outside the building, then returning later to take them from the bins to his house. The school is located at 5600 Godfrey Road. Two of the computers were found in Gray's home after he was arrested Friday. The most recent computer theft was reported Friday, Wells said. He said he is not sure of the total value of the computers, but it is well over $300, which qualifies the thefts as a felony. The Alton School Board last year signed a contract with Aramark in a move to save about $1 million a year. The Alton Education Association reluctantly agreed to drop the custodians from its bargaining unit in exchange for a promise of 10 percent pay raises over four years. The staff of custodians was reduced from 52 to 42 employees. A survey of school employees later rated Aramark 3.2 on a scale of 5, prompting complaints from board member Ed Gray that the firm was not keeping the schools clean enough.

Northhampton County Prison, Easton, Pennsylvania
November 19, 2005 The Express-Times
Six Northampton County Prison guards sickened by exposure to mold filed notice Friday of their intent to sue the county and several past and present county officials. A construction company, an environmental cleanup contractor and a food services corporation are also named as defendants in the document. The plaintiffs suffered both respiratory and gastrointestinal infections after an ongoing expansion at the jail stirred up mold that contaminated the air and food there, according to their attorney, John P. Karoly Jr. County officials have long known mold is a problem at the prison, but did not act quickly enough to fix it, he said. Also, Karoly said his clients meals were fouled by mold because of flaws in the jail food service provider's storage and preparation methods. The county is trying to cover up the mold problem, he said. "These plaintiffs have been attempting to get more information about what they've been exposed to and they've been denied that information." All of the men have received medical treatment for their illnesses and a few of them were hospitalized, Karoly said. They continue to work at the prison, he said. Northampton County Executive Glenn Reibman, who is named in the notice, did not return a phone call for comment Friday evening. Other defendants named in the notice are former Director of Corrections James Smith, Director of Corrections Todd Buskirk, Acting Warden Scott Hoke, Daniel J. Keating Construction Company, of Philadelphia, CMC Environmental Hazard Abatement Inc., of Jim Thorpe, Pa., and Aramark Correctional Services, Inc., of Philadelphia. In 2003, state prison inspectors found moldy areas and moisture-related damage in the prison. The mold was blamed on a leaky shower system in one of the cell blocks. At the time officials acknowledged that the mold was a "very serious" health risk and said they intended to replace the shower system.

August 9, 2005 The Morning Call
Northampton County Prison has stored food in a bathroom, did not have hot water or soap for kitchen workers to wash their hands and used refrigerators not cold enough to safely store food. The conditions are revealed in the Easton Health Bureau's inspection records of 2004 and 2005, which were released last week to The Morning Call following a legal challenge by the newspaper to the city's refusal to make the records public. City inspector Ed Ferraro, interviewed about the city's inspection of prison conditions, described the violations as so severe that, had they been found in a private business, he would have asked the owner to close voluntarily until problems were corrected. Like other food establishments, county prisons are covered by a patchwork of agencies. And just like restaurants and food retailers, some prisons are inspected more often than others and score better or worse than others. Northampton County Prison failed two categories in its 2004 inspection by state officials, which is separate from inspections done by the city. It failed to meet general cleanliness standards because of missing and damaged floor tiles, and it failed to provide health exams to kitchen workers to ensure they are disease-free. While maintaining a clean kitchen is ultimately the responsibility of Northampton County Prison administrators, the county pays a private company, Aramark, to run its food services. Aramark is responsible for how the kitchen runs on a daily basis, Buskirk and Hoke said, and violations such as storing chicken and roast beef at room temperature and storing boxes of dry food in the bathroom would fall under Aramark's responsibility.

Nueces County Jail, Nueces County, Texas
September 29, 2008 KRIS TV
The Nueces County sheriff is asking the company that makes the county jail inmates' meals to change its policies after a knife disappeared from the jail kitchen last week. Knives are kept under lock and key by the food manager's office in the Nueces County Jail kitchen. Yet, on Sept. 19, the jail realized a knife was missing early in the morning. Nueces County Sheriff Jim Kaelin said both the jail and the McKenzie Annex went into immediate lockdown. "We searched from the top floor to the bottom floor, every cell, every nook, every cranny where someone might be able to hide a utensil such as that," Kaelin said. Even so, they still have not found the knife. Kaelin pointed out that if an inmate really wanted a knife, they would just make one. "I feel very confident the knife is no longer in our facility," Kaelin said. He explained that the most likely scenario was that the knife was laying on a table and somehow was knocked into a trash receptacle. Then, it was carried and dumped into an outside dumpster. The experience has prompted Kaelin to ask Aramark, the company contracted to make the food, to change the way it operates. "The policy needs to be changed. Their current system failed and I cannot afford to have them in our kitchen and have that system fail," Kaelin said.

September 27, 2008 The Caller
A search of Nueces County Jail and Annex cells failed to turn up a chef's knife missing from the jail's kitchen. Sheriff Jim Kaelin said the knife was discovered missing the morning of Sept. 19. The cutlery, which belongs to jail food provider Aramark Corp., was supposed to be kept in a locked box and logged out for use by kitchen contractors. All of the company's knives have different color handles so that they are easy to identify, Kaelin said. "Once we knew it was missing, we locked down the jail and conducted a cell by cell inspection," Kaelin said. "No knife was uncovered in our operation. It's a big enough knife that it would be difficult to conceal in any of the cells we have. It was either taken by one of their employees or it fell off a table into the garbage bin and then was thrown into the Dumpsters." Aramark sent a memo to Kaelin stating that proper sign-out procedures were not followed and that disciplinary actions and corrective training were taking place with the employee responsible. The company also is revising its policy to include that kitchen knives will be tethered to work stations, Kaelin said.

Passaic County Jail, New Jersey
February 19, 2006 Herald News
Passaic County Jail inmate prayers -- and stomach rumblings -- have been heard. Sheriff Jerry Speziale is firing the jail's meal provider, Aramark, and inmates will take charge of the kitchen come May, Speziale spokesman Bill Maer said Friday. "We can do it as well as them at this point," he said. The company's $1.7 million annual contract is being terminated because of poor "quality, service, attentiveness," said Maer. Jail officials haven't estimated how much they will save by cooking in-house, and the financial aspect is secondary, said Maer. Inmates said the food is cold, measly in portion size, not varied enough and served on dirty trays, forcing some to pay as much as $200 a month on pre-packaged food from the jail's commissary. The Philadelphia-based vendor was the only bidder for the contract and company executives have since 2002 contributed at least $3,700 to Speziale's campaign, according to election reports. Speziale had advised the company twice over the past year to step up food quality and professionalism or lose the contract. Earlier this month, an Aramark employee at the jail was charged with selling marijuana to inmates. The federal government began an audit -- its second within four years -- into possible mistreatment of detainees and substandard jail conditions at Passaic. The audit is due for release by April. Maer said the firing of Aramark is unrelated to the audit. Three jail inmates said Friday they believed Speziale's decision is designed to appease a growing chorus of inmate complaints about unacceptable jail conditions, in his quest to secure more federal and state inmates in 2006. Housing those inmates provided $20.9 million to the department last year.

February 5, 2006 NorthJersey.com
A food service employee at the Passaic County Jail was arrested Saturday and charged with smuggling marijuana to inmates. Three weeks ago, an anonymous source tipped jail investigators that Roody Preval, 18, of Spring Valley, N.Y., could be selling marijuana to jail inmates, according to Bill Maer, a spokesman for the Passaic County Sheriff's Department. Employed by Aramark Food Services, Preval had been working as a warehouse supervisor at the Passaic County Jail on weekends since July 15. Investigators searched Preval when he reported to work at 12:10 p.m. Saturday, and they found three grams of marijuana hidden in a Newport 100 cigarette box. Preval was charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana 1,000 feet from a school, and conspiracy to provide an inmate with contraband knowing that the contraband was illegal.

January 20, 2006 Herald News
Under pressure from inmates complaining about the quality of jail cuisine, Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale may terminate a $1.7 million food service contract with facility's current provider, Philadelphia-based Aramark. "The sheriff is holding Aramark's feet to the fire regarding the food quality issue," Bill Maer, spokesman for the Passaic County Sheriff's Department, said Thursday. Speziale's threat this week issued to Aramark is his second - last June he changed the company's contract from annual to month-to-month and told Aramark officials the firm needed to improve food quality and increase the menu variety, Maer said. Speziale's promise to re-evaluate Aramark's competency came after a 2 p.m. meeting on Wednesday with a group of about seven U.S. Marshals Service inmates over grievances, which included the poor quality of the food served at the county, Maer said. Much of the changes demanded from the food service company could be traced to a long-simmering controversy over the poor quality of the meals being served at the county jail. A letter dated Jan. 7 from an anonymous group of U.S. Marshals Service inmates said the meals are cold and too cheap to be nutritious.

April 2, 2005 Herald News
The Passaic County Jail may drop its $1.4 million-a-year contract with the food vendor Aramark.  "At this point, the department is considering making alterations or terminating the contract," said Sheriff's Department spokesman Bill Maer. "Although the department feels that the vendor has been deficient in many areas, at this point a final decision has not been made." "Preliminarily, yes, (jail officials) have said that we could do it cheaper and better," said County Administrator Anthony DeNova.

Pueblo County Jail, Pueblo, Colorado
October 23, 2007 Pueblo Chieftain
A cook at the Pueblo County jail was arrested Friday for allegedly smuggling in drugs. Colleen Ann Frazier, 33, was arrested on suspicion of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and introduction of contraband. She is free after posting $15,000 bail Saturday. Frazier was the second person affiliated with the Pueblo County Sheriff's Department to be arrested in the same day. Deputy Joetta Iles was arrested under suspicion of attempted sexual assault and other crimes after she allegedly solicited a high-school girl over the Internet. Iles was a student resource officer at County High School. Iles was placed on unpaid administrative leave and posted $10,000 bail the same day. Frazier, who was working in the kitchen during dinner at the time of her arrest, had a white envelope containing 10 pills, five each of Vicodin and Percocet, Capt. Leide DeFusco of the Pueblo County Sheriff's Department said Monday. The envelope was found in Frazier's work apron following Friday's dinner, he said. "I don't know if she was selling them. I know she was distributing from the kitchen while she worked," DeFusco said, adding that the manner of alleged distributions was part of an ongoing investigation. He said more arrests could be likely. The sheriff's department teamed with the Pueblo Police Department narcotics unit on the investigation and arrest. Frazier, who lives in the 2000 block of West 11th Street, is an employee of Aramark Food, a private company the sheriff's department has contracted with for six years to prepare jail meals, according to a press release. Frazier and another unidentified Aramark employee had their security clearances revoked. Sheriff Kirk Taylor said he was pleased with the investigation and that the screening process for civilian kitchen staff could change. He also said the county's contract with Aramark will expire soon and food-provider bids will open in November.

October 21, 2006 The Pueblo Chieftain
The latest round of campaign finance reports on Pueblo County races reflect a trio of David-and-Goliath contests, at least in financial terms. In the race for sheriff, incumbent Republican Dan Corsentino has raised $133,500 and spent $100,000 as of last week. His Democratic challenger, Kirk Taylor, has raised $41,424 and spent all but $800 of it. Corsentino, who has been sheriff since 1990, had $49,000 in his campaign treasury a year ago and has raised more than $85,000 this year. His most recent report, covering contributions through Oct. 12, includes $1,000 contributions from Transcor America LLC, Aramark political action committee and Motorola PAC, as well as $1,000 each from local residents Keith and Sharon Swerdfeger, Daniel Montano, Thomas Rusler, Gary and Georgia Walker, Larry Mizel of Denver and Richard Lucibella of Oceanridge, Fla. Transcor is a large prisoner transportation company and Aramark is another large company, which has the contract for food service at the county jail.

Putnamville Correctional Facility, Putnamville, Indiana
January 31, 2006 Banner Graphic
A new crackdown on contraband inside the prison and a partnership with the Putnam County Sheriff's Department led to the arrest of a Putnamville Correctional Facility staff member Monday. Putnamville Public Information Officer Jim Ebey told the BannerGraphic Monday the arrest of Michelle Lynn Targett, 35, Terre Haute, a contract employee with Aramark food services, came after several corrections officers at the facility were recently deputized by the Putnam County Sheriff's Department. Targett is charged with bringing tobacco into the facility with the intent to distribute it to offenders. She faces a fine of $5,000, Ebey explained. The internal affairs officers, who had been made special Putnam County deputies on Friday, had been targeting Targett after receiving a tip from another staff member. "A lot of information comes from offenders, and the (internal affairs officers) take those tips and try to put together what is truth and what isn't, and then act on it," Ebey said of how the prison handles trafficking issues.

Sheboygan County Detention Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
June 6, 2009 Sheboygan Press
A two-time convicted sex offender is going back to prison after resuming a sexual relationship with a former Sheboygan County jail worker who was fired for having sex with him in 2007. The relationship is detailed in the case file of Wydell J. Vaughn, a 28-year-old Sheboygan man sentenced Thursday to a year in prison. Vaughn was out of prison for all of three days before authorities discovered the relationship and put him back behind bars. Court records say Vaughn met Tammy Green, 37, while incarcerated at the Sheboygan County Detention Center in 2007. Green, who was married, was a kitchen worker employed by Aramark, which contracts to provide jail foodservice. Vaughn denied having sexual contact at the jail, but the two began having sex shortly after his release in August 2007, and Green was later fired for having the relationship, court records show. The two were found out when Vaughn called Green’s supervisor to complain their relationship couldn’t move forward since she wouldn’t leave her husband. That relationship — along with other probation violations such as unapproved contact with minors and frequenting parks — led to Vaughn being sent to prison for two years in November 2007. He was released Feb. 24 to a halfway house. Before his release, Vaughn was repeatedly told he could not have contact with Green, and all sex offenders must have relationships approved by a probation agent, but he reestablished contact the day he was released, court records show. Green visited him at a halfway house that day and the next, then had sex with him on the 26th when Vaughn was let out to buy clothes for a court appearance on the 27th. A GPS monitoring bracelet showed the pair drove throughout Sheboygan and also left the city. Green then went with Vaughn to the court hearing, and the two were seen kissing in the courthouse hallway, court record show. Vaughn later called his probation agent from Green’s phone, and Green called the probation agent and identified herself as his girlfriend after he was arrested for having contact with her. That arrest came on Feb. 27, three days after he had been released from prison. He was kept in jail on a probation hold until being sentenced Thursday by Judge Timothy Van Akkeren. Sheriff Mike Helmke said Green was not a county employee, though jail administrators have a say in who can work there. “We conduct a pre-hire background investigation, but other than that the supervision and employment standards and everything are pretty much regulated by her employer,” Helmke said, adding that Aramark made the decision to fire Green. Vaughn was convicted twice in 2002 of felony second-degree sexual assault for having sex with 14- and 15-year-old girls in 2001, when he was 20. He has served a total of more than five years in prison in the cases, all but two years of it resulting from probation violations.

Shea Stadium, New York
May 7, 2007 AP
The New York Mets fan whose back was broken by an apparently drunken 300-pound man who fell on her at Shea Stadium during the team's home opener has filed a lawsuit because of her injuries. Ellen Massey, 58, says in court papers that on April 9 she was in the second row of the right field upper deck near a "visibly intoxicated" man who was "acting in a rowdy, boisterous and dangerous manner for a long period of time." Around 3:30 p.m., court papers say, the man, who has not been found or identified, "in an intoxicated condition fell upon plaintiff causing her to sustain severe personal injuries." Massey's lawyer, Stephen Kaufman, said Monday that the fall by the drunk, who was described as a blond 300-pounder, cracked several of the woman's vertebrae. "He got up and left," apparently uninjured, Kaufman said. "We have information that one of the security people might have spoken to him and let him leave." Two emergency medical technicians sitting directly in front of Massey gave her first aid and comforted her until an ambulance arrived, Kaufman said. Massey underwent surgery for spinal injuries at Jacobi Medical Center and was hospitalized there for about two weeks, Kaufman said. Doctors put rods and screws in her back and will have to operate on her again, he said. Massey was at the game with two adult nephews when the incident occurred between the sixth and seventh innings, with the Mets behind 5-3. The home team went on the beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-5. Massey, a Manhattan lawyer, named Sterling Mets L.P., owner of the baseball team; Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., the beer vendor; the Service Employees International Union Local 177, whose members are security guards at Shea Stadium, and "John Doe," the unidentified man who fell on her, as defendants. Massey's court papers say that Sterling Mets had a duty to provide reasonable safety for stadium patrons, that Aramark should not have sold alcohol to spectators who appeared to be already drunk and that the union employees should have prevented unruly behavior. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, seeks unspecified money damages for Massey's injuries. The Mets issued a statement about the lawsuit saying, "We believe the claim has no merit." Aramark said it was reviewing the complaint. "We continue to work closely with the Mets and stadium security personnel in investigating this incident," spokeswoman Kristine Grow said.

Shelby County Correction Center, Memphis, Tennessee
August 1, 2006 Commercial Appeal
When voters in Thursday's general elections are presented their choices for Shelby County sheriff, there will be two names: the incumbent Republican Mark Luttrell, and his Democratic challenger, Reginald French. But there is a Republican lieutenant in the sheriff's department who wants to tip the balance as a write-in candidate. John Harvey admits he has one goal: "I'm using all available means to make sure Mark Luttrell is not sheriff on Sept. 1." On Monday, Harvey sent an e-mail to Shelby County attorney Brian Kuhn accusing Luttrell and several other members of the sheriff's office with accepting tickets to a dinner cruise at a Chicago law enforcement convention from Aramark, the company that has a food services contract with the county and the sheriff's office. Kuhn said Monday he sent an e-mail to Luttrell asking about it, and would evaluate Harvey's complaint. Luttrell said he remembered the dinner, but did not remember if Aramark paid for tickets. He said he did not believe it would have violated county ethics policies because the dinner was open to thousands of others at the convention.

Snyder County Jail, Selingrove, Pennsylvania
October 17, 2005 The Daily Item
The Snyder County prison board has received a verbal agreement that a food service company will continue feeding inmates through the end of the year. The board's one-year contract with Aramark expired Oct. 1, but the county is presently engaged in a legal battle with the Teamsters Union regarding last year's hiring of the independant food provider. The issue came about last fall when the prison board decided to eliminate staff at the prison who had been preparing meals and hire the company with an aim of saving about $100,000 a year. The union filed a grievance, claiming the county violated the labor relations law by cutting eight union positions. The grievance was upheld by the State Labor Relations Board, but now the county is appealing. Pending the appeal, the county approached Aramark about continuing to provide three meals daily even after its contract ended.

March 31, 2005 The Daily Item
Six months after the Snyder County prison board made a cost-cutting move replacing four union employees with a food-service company, the state labor board has ordered the county to reinstate the workers. Teamsters Local 764, which represents the prison employees, charged the county with unfair labor practices for hiring Aramark Food Service to provide meals to inmates in place of four union kitchen employees. The prison board inked a one-year contract with Aramark Oct. 1, claiming the outside contractor would save the county about $100,000 a year. The union sought to keep the four employees on the payroll, but county officials said Aramark had its own employees. Citing the single meeting between the union and prison board on the matter, the labor board found "no evidence" the two parties engaged in mediation and determined the county failed to "bargain in good faith." In its ruling, the labor board ordered the county to rescind the contract with Aramark, restore the food service work to the union, rehire the four employees and pay them lost wages and benefits.

February 10, 2005 Daily Item
Police clad in riot gear were called Tuesday night to assist Snyder County Jail corrections officers in dealing with 13 hungry and angry inmates who refused to return to their cells until they received more food. The prisoners, federal and out-of-county inmates, were in the recreation room Tuesday evening when they became upset that the commissary failed to arrive on time, Warden George Nye said. When prison staff tried to move them back to their cells, he said, 13 inmates refused to budge. About 15 police equipped in full riot gear showed up at the facility at 600 Old Colony Road. Nye said negotiations with the prisoners began immediately. The main request from the inmates was for sandwiches, he said. "They were hungry and angry because they didn’t get the commissary," the warden said, referring to food items prisoners are allowed to buy with their own money. Sandwiches were made and brought in for each protesting inmate. Afterward, the inmates returned to their cells without injury to anyone involved or damage to the facility, Nye said. The incident lasted about four hours, he said. The extra food was a concession the warden was willing to oblige. Nye conceded the inmates had received substantial meals before Aramark Food Services took over the kitchen a few months ago and began serving daily meals of 3,000 calories. The switch is saving the county about $100,000 a year. "We had a heck of a menu before," Nye said. Inmates "don’t get the extras, like ice cream, that they used to get." Teamsters representative Donnie Deivert said budget cutbacks are putting the corrections officers he represents at risk.

Tarrant County Jail, Texas
For the third time in less than a year, Tarrant County commissioners are expected Tuesday to award a jail food service contract.  The recommended contractor, Mid-America Services, will provide three daily meals for about 3,300 inmates. The contract is worth about $3.79 million a year.  Mid-America already runs the jail commissary, which sells snacks and personal items to inmates. Its chief executive is Jack Madera, a controversial businessman with long-running ties to several local politicians, including Sheriff Dee Anderson and Commissioner J.D. Johnson.  Both officials have said Madera is a friend but have pledged that the friendship will in no way color their decisions about the contract.  Madera was indicted earlier this year on charges of using forged documents to win a 1997 food-service contract in Kaufman County, but the charges were dropped.  With the expiration date looming, county officials requested proposals for a new contract, which was ultimately awarded to Aramark Correctional Services.  But inmates and county officials alike had many complaints about Aramark, which is based in Philadelphia. Aramark resigned its contract, and Mid-States, as the back-up contractor, resumed providing food service at the jail.  (Star-Telegram, July 20, 2004)

February 25, 2004
Mid-States Services - the Hurst company in line to take over Tarrant County's jail food contract if the current company fails to do a better job -- has its own food-quality problems, a former Mid-States manager told commissioners Tuesday.  Emilio Gonzalez, who until January was director of operations for Mid-States, said the former jail contractor often took outdated food from its commissary operations and served it to inmates after removing packaging that listed the freshness dates.  "Vendors need to make a profit, but it doesn't need to be at the county's expense," Gonzalez told county commissioners Tuesday during their meeting.  Mid-States Chief Executive John Sammons said the allegations are untrue and blamed them on a competitor that he declined to name.  Sammons said some boxes of outdated food were found in Mid-States' stocks when the company provided food service to the jail, but he said those boxes had already been designated for disposal when jailers told the company to remove them.  "This is another desperate attempt by those who would like to cause Mid- States problems, at a time when the commissioners are looking at us as a back-up supplier," he said.  Last week, commissioners put current contractor Aramark Correctional Services on 30 days' notice to improve the quality of food and service or be removed from the contract.  Mid-States, which held the jail food contract until December, was designated as a backup supplier if Aramark failed to meet the terms.  Sheriff Dee Anderson said Tuesday that in the week since the commissioners issued the ultimatum, Aramark has made improvements and inmate complaints are declining.  Checks of the food service have found improved food temperatures and larger portions, he said.  But the company still has a long way to go to be acceptable, he said.  "If I had to make a recommendation today, I'd cancel the contract," Anderson said.  As to Gonzalez's allegations about Mid-States, Anderson said he would discuss them with commissioners.  "If any of it is true, it's disturbing," he said.  Gonzalez apologized to commissioners for not coming forward sooner, and said that during contract deliberations last fall he was still employed by Mid-States and feared retaliation.  He said he resigned because of concerns about Mid-States' operations. Sammons said that Gonzalez left Mid-States on good terms to take another job and that he was disappointed by the comments.  An Aramark spokeswoman did not return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday but has said Aramark officials believe they are meeting contractual obligations.  Commissioners did not discuss Gonzalez's comments at the Tuesday meeting because the issue was not posted as an item for consideration. After the meeting, however, commissioners questioned the timing of the comments.  "I'm always grateful for people to come forward, but it's odd that he would come forward at this time," Precinct 1 Commissioner Dionne Bagsby said.  Precinct 3 Commissioner Glen Whitley said he gave no credence to Gonzalez's comments and would vote to bring in Mid-States if Aramark did not improve its service.  "It just amazes me that this guy shows up to speak against Mid-States a week after we put Aramark on 30-days' notice," he said.  Mid-States was the food service operator that served meals to inmates in the Tarrant County Jail until Aramark won a $3.3 million contract over Mid-States, Mid-America and Canteen Correctional Services.  Mid-America -- run by former Mid-States executive Jack Madera -- operates the jail commissary, which sells toiletries and snack items to jail inmates. Madera has been indicted along with two other men on charges that they used a forged document to win a jail food-service contract in Kaufman County.  The indictments stem from an investigation into whether Madera influenced Dallas County Sheriff Jim Bowles with thousands of dollars in favors before Bowles picked Madera's company for a $20 million jail commissary contract.  The scope has widened to include Madera's dealings with other counties, including Tarrant and Denton.  (Lawyer Texas Parole)

February 19, 2004
It would be easy to dismiss inmates' complaints about jail food simply as whining -- not worthy of serious attention because incarceration is not meant to be a pleasant experience.  But in the case of the Tarrant County Jail and the meals being served by its newly contracted food service provider, Aramark Correctional Services, the food being distributed to prisoners not only does not meet the taste test -- it may actually pose health risks.  Inmates have been complaining about the quality of the food since Aramark began serving the county's four jail sites in December under a $3.3 million annual contract.  In response to the complaints and boycott of the meals by some prisoners, county purchasing director Jack Beacham and other county officials went to inspect the food service operation.  Beacham said they saw 17 pans of soured pinto beans, discovered foods that were being kept at improper temperatures, and witnessed one employee drop tortillas on the floor and then place them back on the service line.  (Lawyer Texas Parole)

Thompson Academy, Broward County, Florida
June 23, 2006 Miami Herald
Lunch at Thompson Academy, a youth camp for delinquents in Broward County, recently featured some unexpected cuisine: maggots. One teenager decided he didn't like the extra protein on his green beans and complained to his parents. The parents complained to Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, which then complained to the state's child-abuse hot line. The Broward Sheriff's Office investigated. The results: Police with pictures of maggots in the food. The food vendor summarily fired. And the state Department of Juvenile Justice, responsible for overseeing the camp, ``horrified.'' ''We are outraged and horrified at the quality of food served to youth at Thompson Academy,'' said department spokeswoman Cynthia Lorenzo. ``DJJ does not tolerate such improper service to youth in our care.'' And at least one juvenile judge also is paying attention. Palm Beach Circuit Judge Ron Alvarez, who has been a frequent critic of conditions at Juvenile Justice's lockup in his county, said he and other judges are considering asking the department to find another food service company for the site. The facility gets its meals from the same company that served Thompson Academy: Trinity Food Services, based in Homestead. ''The callousness, the disregard for these kids as human beings made me so angry,'' Alvarez said of the Thompson Academy investigation, which he heard about from the county's Legal Aid office. Thompson Academy is a 112-bed moderate-risk youth camp for troubled boys on the Pembroke Pines campus of what used to be South Florida State Hospital. It is operated under contract with Juvenile Justice by Youth Services International, a Sarasota-based youth corrections company with seven programs in Florida. Jesse Williams, a senior vice president at Youth Services International, said that on the day the police arrived to investigate the complaint -- and confirmed the existence of maggots -- his company immediately fired Trinity Food Services and bought the boys a new meal of roast chicken and rolls. ''The next day, we had a new provider in there serving food -- starting with the breakfast meal,'' Williams said. ``That was the last day they served a meal to kids at Thompson Academy.'' It was by no means, however, the last time Trinity served food to kids in state custody. Juvenile Justice currently has $3.7 million in contracts with Trinity, which is responsible for food service at all 26 of the state's juvenile detention centers, including in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, said Lorenzo, the spokeswoman. On average, Trinity is paid $2.62 per child for every meal served. And Trinity continues to provide meals to children at other Youth Services International facilities as well, said Sarah Hada, a publicist representing Trinity. ''Trinity Services Group takes these allegations very seriously,'' Hada said in an e-mail to The Miami Herald on Thursday.

Wachovia Center, Pennsylvania
An Aramark vendor working at the Wachovia Center has been arrested for the sexual assault of a teen-age girl after a Sixers-Knicks game.  Joseph Rota, 40, has been charged with attempted rape and related charges in the March 12 assault, police said. He is accused of forcing a 17-year-old girl into a service room at the arena and holding her against her will. He also forced her to perform oral sex on him and attempted to sexually assault her, police said.  (Philadelphia Daily News, March 25, 2004)

Westville Correctional Facility, Westville, Indiana
March 18, 2009 South Bend Tribune
A food service employee was arrested at Westville Correctional Facility today (Wednesday), accused of smuggling drugs and cell phones into the prison, according to a news release. Erika Garner, 52, of Michigan City, an Aramark Food Service employee, was arrested by Indiana State Police on suspicion of trafficking with an offender and bribery of a public official, the release stated. During a routine search at the prison’s main gate, Garner was reportedly found to be in possession of a package of marijuana and three cell phones and chargers.

Wyandotte County Jail, Wyandotte, Kansas
The Wyandotte County sheriff closed the county jail's kitchen for 24 hours after an inspection revealed sanitary and storage problems.  Joe Connor, county health director, said the problems were discovered Thursday in an annual inspection of the juvenile detention center. Part of that inspection was the food service area, which also serves adult inmates.  Brad Ratliff, a spokesman for the sheriff, said the health violations included the buildup of grease and the improper storage of items in the kitchen, which serves about 450 inmates.  The department has a three-year contract with Aramark Inc. to operate the kitchen. The company, which is paid about $669,000 annually, is responsible for the cleaning.  (Kansas City, August 28, 2004)

Yarl's Wood, Benfordshire, England
May 23, 2006 The Mirror
A WOMAN was sacked from a detention centre after a criminal stole her identity. Melanie Dudley has no previous convictions but her bosses at Yarl's Wood detention centre accused her of concealing a criminal past. She was sacked on the spot by cleaning contractor Aramark and has since been unable to find another job. She later found a Scottish offender with a string of 30 convictions used her name and date of birth as an alias. Mrs Dudley, 35, was sacked from the Bedfordshire centre last February for failing Home Office security clearance. The Home Office told her she should contact police to try to clarify the situation. But her Criminal Records Bureau check shows she has no convictions or cautions. She told the Daily Mirror: "The Home Office and my bosses won't believe and I can't find any work with this hanging over me." Aramark said: "It's not company policy to comment on matters between an individual and the company."