A Jacksonville cook filed a $10 million lawsuit against the food and beverage contractor at Everbank Field on Wednesday afternoon.
The lawsuit reveals disturbing claims about chicken being left unrefrigerated for days and roaches covering pans.
Phyllis Stokes is suing Delaware North, which has been doing business at Everbank Field since last year under the name Jacksonville Sportservice, Inc.
It’s a company that serves food and drinks at stadiums and other venues all over the world, including MetLife Stadium and Lambeau Field.
“I’m feeling like a tadpole in a sea of sharks right now, but I know that what I’m doing is right,” said Stokes.
Stokes thought she had her dream job: cooking for the Jacksonville Jaguars players, coaches, staff and VIPs at Everbank Field.
She said it quickly became a nightmare.
In the lawsuit, Stokes claimed she was fired after complaining about food safety issues, like leaving chicken unrefrigerated for days before it was served to the team.
The lawsuit also said a co-worker put her bloody leg on a cooking surface after she cut herself at work.
“They would go and get the temporary agencies to just get riffraff in here to serve quality players, quality people. And anybody could die soon,” said Stokes.
Stokes said those temporary employees didn’t have the food-safety training required by law. She said that led to mistakes like unwashed pans attracting roaches.
“They called pest control people in, but they didn’t shut the kitchen down. We didn’t shut it down and deep-clean it,” said Stokes.
Action News Jax checked the inspection reports at Everbank Field and found some concession stands had high-priority violations after Delaware North took over last year.
An inspector found roach droppings at one concession stand.
Some concession stands were operating without a license.
But the lawsuit mainly focuses on the prep kitchen where Stokes worked, not the concession stands.
Inspection reports at the prep kitchen revealed no high priority violations since Delaware North took over.
“Delaware North would tell them [the employees] to leave the facility when the inspectors would come in, so obviously a lot of the concerns would not be revealed,” said Stokes’ attorney, J. Eric Jones of The Jones Law Firm, PA.
The lawsuit also accuses Delaware North of employment discrimination, saying Stokes was paid less than her colleagues because of her race and gender.
Jones said he hopes the $10 million lawsuit sends a message to Delaware North.
“My client, it’s not about the money,” said Jones. “If we don’t get one cent out of this, God knows we’re here for the right reason.”
Delaware North corporate communications director Victoria Hong sent Action News Jax the following statement:
We take food safety very seriously and are reviewing the allegations of Ms. Stokes. That said, Ms. Stokes was not terminated from employment as she alleges, but was rather suspended due to allegations against her pertaining to personal misconduct in the workplace. At this point, we have no reason to believe that her lawsuit is anything other than the unsubstantiated claims of a disgruntled employee."
Jaguars spokesman Dan Edwards told Action News Jax he had no comment on the lawsuit.
Cox Media Group
