Family claims glove was in food from Santa Monica Cheesecake Factory
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - A woman claims a glove was found in her husband's food from the Cheesecake Factory in Santa Monica.
Laurie Graham said she was at a work event with her husband and decided to order Cheesecake Factory through a delivery app to their hotel room.
"I went to the lobby of the hotel, received the order. It was completely sealed and packaged. I got upstairs and we began to eat our food, and my husband was eating his fettuccine alfredo, and he took a bite and he thought it was hard chicken or some overcooked cheese and come to find out, it was a latex glove that had been melted into the food," said Graham.
Graham said her husband is "high-risk," and they are concerned about any possible exposure to COVID-19.
"My husband is diabetic and high risk. Immediately it's like this pit in the bottom of your stomach and you just feel nauseous and sick. He ran to the bathroom. We've worked so hard during this pandemic to make sure that he's not around people, that we are being safe, social distancing, wiping stuff down going into hotel rooms, double cleaning and checking everything and here we have it simply enjoying what is a safe meal because it's sealed and protected and this happens," said Graham.
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Graham said she immediately called the Santa Monica restaurant and spoke with a manager.
"He just kind of was like I'm so sorry, I'll have my manager call you tomorrow and when you're in a panic especially with the way things are right now and what we're seeing on TV, and the numbers in Los Angeles, you have no idea," she said.
Graham said she did receive a call from Cheesecake Factory Tuesday afternoon.
"We did get a call from someone from the Cheesecake Factory who apologized which is nice and offered us a 200 dollar gift certificate to come and eat there again, but really is that the price of life? Of not knowing, of negligence? Possibly my husband could have been exposed to who knows what," said Graham.
She said outside of the pandemic, she has concerns.
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"Not even the fact that we're in a pandemic right now, but also there are chemicals that are in latex that have been melted into the food he's eating and the number one way that you're catching the virus is through your mouth and he put his mouth on this latex glove," said Graham.
Graham is doing "tons of research," to see what their next steps will be.
"The thing is if you accept this 'oh I'm sorry' and you move forward and a week down the road, we find out my husband has COVID, who's paying the hospital bills? Who's paying all the expenses and the stress and the mental anguish that comes with it?" Graham said.
Graham said the family also cares for her husband's elderly mother who is a cancer survivor.
"I understand that things happen but there has to be some type of responsibility. There has to be some type of action. We're trying to support the businesses because it's so tough for them right now and then something like this happens, it's really just a stab in the heart when they say let me give you this gift certificate," said Graham.
The Senior Vice President of Operations, Spero G. Alex, from The Cheesecake Factory released a statement regarding the claim:
“We take food safety and sanitation very seriously and are committed to providing a safe dining experience to all of our guests whether they dine-in or order take-out and delivery. We are very concerned to hear of this complaint and are reviewing our food safety procedures with the restaurant team. We are also reaching out to the guest to express our sincere concern and to apologize for this failure in service.”
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