NYC Restaurant Owner Says He Was Shut Down After Video Recording Health Inspection

January 9, 2012 @ 1:13PM

NYC Restaurant Owner Says He Was Shut Down After Video Recording Health Inspection

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A New York restaurant owner says he was retaliated against for attempting to video record a health inspector’s visit to his diner on Friday.

Bill Koulmentas, who owns George’s diner in Manhattan, which is popular with the city’s bigwigs, was shut down over the weekend with several violations, including one where 15 pounds of cooked cut potatoes were contaminated by a loose screw.

Koulmentas, who received a top grade of “A” five months ago, said he experienced an overzealous inspection a month ago, which is why he pulled out his iPhone during the most recent inspection.

That was when the inspector started racking up the violations.

According to the New York Post:

When the inspector spotted owner Bill Koulmentas’ cellphone scheme, he quickly hit George’s with a slew of violations — totaling 65 points.

Koulmentas was accused of everything from having cracked eggs to keeping cold food too hot and hot food too cold.

The weirdest rap was for 15 pounds of cooked cut potatoes and peppers that were allegedly “contaminated by one loose screw (approximately one inch in size) resting on food surface on grill.”

George’s was closed, and because Koulmentas won’t be able to file an appeal until Monday, his 13 to 14 employees will be out of work at least until then.

Comments

kilroy238

4 months ago

Give a piece of shit just a little power and look what happens.

kc2idf

4 months ago

I believe if I were Bill, I would be getting a lawyer and a CCTV system.

It might also be interesting if the douchebag's name and image were published so that he can be refused service elsewhere in the city.

James

4 months ago

It's a double edged sword. If you're following an inspector around with a camera, they will be more apt to do their job in case it gets posted for overlooking several violations on youtube or something. I bring this up because I just watched Holme Inspection last night on HGTV where Holmes comes in after a "clean" inspection (zero incidents) of a 8 year old house and finds 20-30 grand in repairs from violations. If the original inspector was followed with a camera, probably would have been a different outcome...

Phred

4 months ago

Agree. If the inspector knows he's being recorded, he's going to do a strict, by-the-book inspection and not cut corners or give the owner any slack because doing so might come back to bite him. This wasn't retaliation as much as it was CYA on the inspector's part.

The same theory applies to recording cops in public. If they know they are being recorded, they are less likely to resort to their usual thugs-with-badges tactics. It keeps 'em more honest.

Brian

4 months ago

Seems like requiring health inspectors to photograph evidence of violations would be a simple and inexpensive policy to implement that would have spared the business owner and the health agency the "he said, she said" aspect of the initial complaint. (Of course, NYC would probably find a way to spend $2,500 a pop on a point and shoot).

While they're at it... meter maids should be required to photograph evidence of parking violations too...

the Bulldog

4 months ago

eddy murphy said it best...

kc2idf

4 months ago

...and how did he say it?

Ray Z

4 months ago

His restaurant is private property. The inspectors should not even be allowed on the premises. I would have continued to serve food and when they came to arrest me, I would have made sure the media was there. I would have used this as a "teachable" moment in the US Constitution.

A person who runs a business has every incentive to make sure his products are free from defects, disease and contamination. Anyone in business who does not offer a good product, service for a good price, eventually goes out of business.

Too many unconstitutional mandates in this country.

Phred

4 months ago

But before they go out of business they may poison who knows how many people with their dirty and unsafe kitchen. Restaurant inspections are one area of government I have absolutely no problem with.

DavidForthoffer

4 months ago

Food service is a heavily regulated industry. Inspections are not a 4th Amendment violation.

Roberto V

4 months ago

You obviously haven't seen many dirty ass kitchens... I have, and trust me, I've called inspectors to come shut some joints down. Restaurant health inspectors are not violating anybody's rights by inspecting for unsafe conditions, they're helping people by holding the restaurateur accountable for keeping their kitchen's safe for the patrons.

This inspector may have been a little overzealous, but then again, maybe he wasn't... We haven't seen the video yet so we can decide for ourselves.

Ray Z

4 months ago

Thanks for the responses. I sort of figured everyone would respond as if I were crazy.

Private industry does a much better job. Private companies already sign up for and pay for private inspections of their facilities.

The difference is that government inspectors often times (and not all of them, but enough) believe that you work for them. That they hold power over your business (as has happened here).

Were inspections provided by private firms, the relationship would be much more civil.

For instance, in the city of New York (same city) over half the elevators are inspected by a company named Bureau Veritas. They inspect over 40,000 elevators. The city used to do this, but there were always problems. Bribes, corruption etc.

And sorry, but just because someone does not think this is a violation of the bill of rights, it is, in fact. We have all simply been too blind and too willing for too many years to allow government to intrude onto private property and tell us what to do. The basis of our society is, in fact, private property rights.

So, a private inspection firm (sort of like the quarterly UL inspections I pay for) would do a much better job and the private property owner would be treated like a CUSTOMER and not a SLAVE.

Phred

4 months ago

You won't find a bigger supporter of the Bill of Rights than I am, but I can't figure out which part you believe to be a violation in terms of restaurant health inspections. Perhaps you believe it's a Fourth Amendment violation, but since you have to have a business license to open a restaurant to begin with, I would imagine that consenting to periodic health inspections comes with that license.

Ray Z

4 months ago

Well...having to get a license to operate any business is also an infringement on not only Constitutional rights, but also the natural rights of man.

In 1960, only five percent of work related positions required licensing. Today 35% of professions require licensing.

I constantly read on this board how everyone warns anyone else to not touch their camera. How they are all about their private property rights. Private property means...you control it, you dispose of it, you maintain it, it is yours.

Those restaurants and properties belong to people. They are private property.

Just as if a restaurant owner wishes to allow smoking, they have that right.

Government intrusion into the lives of Americans and the chipping away of private property rights is a continuing and on-going issue.

And yes, 4th, but much more the 5th, due process.

"nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;"

If he is shut down, he has been deprived of his property for a short while. He has also been deprived of his liberty, the use of his property and the earnings he would have generated, all without due process.

You can also find the due process clause in the 14th Amendment.

Again, it is my belief that private inspection companies can do a much better job and they will have to develop relationships with customers. They will do a good job, since they will have their inspection business reputation on the line. They will also do a good job, so that they can grow in the marketplace.

Really, almost anything the government does, private industry can do better.

Remember the "good housekeeping seal of approval".

If you really support and understand the bill of rights, you will understand the usurpation of private property rights is the most horrible of any usurpation.

Again, just because the courts have said such things are legal, does not make them so.

kc2idf

4 months ago

Certifications fall apart eventually, because the requirements get watered down. This, in turn, happens because the certifying authorities are paid by those receiving certificates. That, too, is the free market at work.

The only way to make it work reliably is to make the certifying authority responsible to those who rely on the certifications. This can work in a free market, but firs the authority has to see value in certifying something, which means there must be a market for it first. Zagat's and Consumers' Union are good examples of this working.

4 months ago

so would you be offended when a customer wants to look at your kitchen? every customer? the common good is part of this too. after all we are paying for a tasty and safe meal. i'm not sure what the rest matters here. the revenge part is the wrong part.. CYA is the rule in NYC he should have used CCTV if he thought something was wrong and really wanted to catch him in something. If you're gonna play come on. Intimidation by anyone isn't gonna work if the guy knows he's right. The workers got screwed and he took the weekend off. woohoo

Jon Quimbly

4 months ago

On city inspectors/meter maids getting cameras: bureaucracy will prevent this from happening in any timely manner. NYC Govt is 10-20 years behind the technology curve (see: CityTime scandal).

Violation recipients will have the upper-hand for the time-being, if they choose to document inspector visits with handhelds or CCTV equipment. Without seeing the video, I'd guess that even pulling out a camera is provocative -what you really want is to secretly document a bad inspector's work, not piss off a bad inspector and have him writing you bogus violations.

Likewise, individual inspectors, meter-maids andcops could easily take matters in their own hands - bring a camera to work.