ROME, Ga. — The whistleblower who triggered a Channel 2 investigation into conditions at a local food plant is now suing Kellogg's.
Contractor Bruce Stephens told Channel 2's Diana Davis that he spent 17 weeks working at a Kellogg's plant in Rome, but he was never paid for $127,000 worth of work.
In a lawsuit just filed in federal court, Stephens said he brought in more than a dozen consultants for Kellogg's after the plant's assistant manager brought him in to consult on moisture problems, but he was suddenly let go after he raised issues about possible food safety problems at the plant.
"I think Kellogg's decided somewhere along the way that they were uncomfortable with him because he was outspoken about things he saw," Stephens' lawyer Thomas Richelo told Diana Davis.
Stephens said he witnessed broken water lines under conveyor belts, chocolate leaking from a machine and mounding on the floor, inverted umbrellas being used to catch water drips, an algae bed growing under a roof chiller and an employee using her arm to stir a vat of food.
He said plant managers told him not to discuss food safety.
"There are things there that need to be taken care of and, you know, we were not going to be a puppet on a string. We were going to do our job," Stephens said.
State inspectors have found repeat violations at the Kellogg's plant three times in 13 months.
On Wednesday, the state's chief food inspector told Channel 2 he personally went to the plant just days ago. Oscar Garrison said Kellogg's has made significant improvements and has a detailed improvement plan in place.
The state will meet again with Kellogg's next week.
WSBTV
