Mike Motter got a job as a student employee at Summit Café in fall 2017 where he made handcrafted sandwiches at the deli station. Each shift, Motter would help develop specials and serve made-to-order sandwiches to students alongside a full-time employee. He liked his job.
Over the summer of 2018, WVU contracted Sodexo, an international dining services company, to manage and operate most University dining and catering services. And things changed at Summit Café.
When Motter returned to WVU in the fall, he said working conditions worsened under the new management. He said staff were under-supported by the new management and that policy changes were not clearly communicated to employees who were often told they’d broken a policy they were never made aware of.
Before Sodexo, Motter always worked with a full-time employee who would train and supervise him throughout each shift at the deli, his primary station. After the transition, he would work alone at the deli, without supervision from a full-time employee.
Motter said dining halls were often understaffed under Sodexo and some stations had slower service or were left unattended entirely.
“With WVU, there were a lot more people in the dining hall, and it was a lot less stressful. You could just show up and someone else would be usually working in your position with you and they could show you what to do,” Motter said. “Then Sodexo took over and now you’re trying to cover a few stations by yourself, and you’re basically running ragged.”
The quality of management at WVU dining halls was worse after Sodexo took over, according to interviews with Motter and a second former full-time employee who worked before and after the transition.
Since the changeover, health code violations increased in volume and severity as inspectors visited more often due to additional anonymous complaints filed with the health department by diners or employees.
After Sodexo took over operations in 2018, the average number of annual health code violations at WVU dining halls increased by 24%, according to a Daily Athenaeum analysis of county health department inspections from the past decade.
Inspections are required twice a year, but additional visits may be required if a complaint is filed to the health department or if facilities are unable to correct a violation on site.
While the total average of violations increased, the severity of those violations also increased.
Issues that require immediate action are deemed by health inspectors as “critical” violations. “Non-critical” violations include more minor issues like unclean surfaces or supplies.
The average annual number of critical violations at WVU dining halls increased by 73% after Sodexo took over.
“There are a variety of factors that may affect the overall number and type of violations recorded by the health department, including the frequency of inspections, changes in how violations are categorized over time, as well as variations in individual inspections,” said Tiffany Peden, WVU Sodexo spokeswoman. “This data also is complicated by the complex nature of franchisees and permits under the WVU Dining Services and Sodexo umbrella, which may affect the way violations are ultimately reflected in the data.”
She said WVU Dining Services and Sodexo take each health code violation “very seriously” and respond to each with the same level of urgency.
Peden said they have also increased safety training for current staff and are working to hire additional staff. After reporting earlier this year by the Daily Athenaeum about a student who was served raw chicken, food is temperature checked more frequently and staff are required to take a photo of the thermometer each time.
Current WVU Sodexo District Manager Michael Dahl started at the beginning of March after a four-year stint at Texas Christian University. He replaced Richard Hampton who is still employed by the company in North Carolina.
Dahl told a reporter he plans to address student concerns at campus dining facilities.
“We’re adding people to our team that might have a certain expertise that we can all continue to grow better,” Dahl said in an interview. “But you know, the team here where they work hard, they’re super proud of West Virginia. They’re super proud of the university. They’re super proud of what they do. So they want to get better with this as well.”
In addition to hiring a new district manager, Sodexo has recruited a sanitary manager and a food safety supervisor. In the near future it plans to add an additional supervisor position.
“By having these positions it’s going to give us better coverage for staff that have questions,” Dahl said. “Students, customers, catering, whatever that could have questions, we have that subject matter experts who can be reactive.”
The simple serving station at Café Evansdale provides patrons with allergen free meal options.
Christian Ferreiro
Joe Lawson, longtime health inspector with the Monongalia County Health Department (MCHD), said that from his experience touring dozens of facilities around the county, larger facilities generally have more violations and management plays a key role in the cleanliness of any operation.
Both Hatfields and Café Evansdale serve thousands of meals every day. They saw major renovations in 2019 as part of the Sodexo partnership, according to WVU spokeswoman April Kaull. Additional cooking stations and guest seating were added.
Prior to 2019, the large kitchen in the basement of the Mountainlair provided the majority of food served in Hatfields.
Complaint-driven health inspections became more common under Sodexo’s management as well.
Only one complaint was made in the six years before Sodexo took over operations. Since then, there have been five complaints.
Health inspectors visited Café Evansdale in February 2020 after receiving a complaint from a guest who was served “undercooked hamburger.” According to the report, inspectors required management to outline additional steps they would take to better train employees “to reduce the risk of undercooked foods.”
In 2020, Café Evansdale received six inspections.
“It’s a snapshot in time. I think a lot of people may not realize that it’s just what we see when we’re there,” Jennifer Costolo-Michael, health inspector for MCHD, said. “A facility may have been doing a pretty good job prior to and then just for some reason, that day that we were there things that maybe had gone off the rails. Or a place may be great … and you know they have a great day.”
Motter said policy and protocol changes were not clearly communicated with him after Sodexo started managing Summit Café. He said Sodexo rearranged supplies without communicating their new homes, changed the stock of ingredients and expected employees to memorize their safety book without telling them.
Motter said he arrived for a shift at the sandwich-making station and ingredients were not pre-packaged and pre-cut as they had been before. He was told by the new management that student employees were now expected to cut their own ingredients each shift.
He said previously there would be multiple student and full-time employees responsible for the cleanliness of the dining hall. With Sodexo, a sole student was responsible for cleaning the facility.
Motter also said that Sodexo executives were often present in the dining halls during operating hours but did not jump in when the understaffed workers were overwhelmed.
Until 2020 James Parsons worked at Let’s Go Taco, one of a handful of restaurants in Evansdale Crossing managed by Fresh Hospitality, not by Sodexo.
A student walks through Hatfields on April 4, 2022.
Photo by Christian Ferreiro
Once Sodexo and WVU agreed the contractor would start managing the former Fresh Hospitality restaurants in 2020, Parsons was transferred to Café Evansdale where he said he was asked to work in positions he had not been trained for.
Before the transition, Parsons had no prior experience working in a dining hall. During Parson’s first two weeks at Café Evansdale, he was never told what position he was expected to work and was often confused about what his responsibilities were.
Parsons also said many employees at Café Evansdale weren’t trained how to properly clean equipment. He felt under-supported by Sodexo management because they rarely offered help or support when shifts became stressful.
“We had almost zero training and zero supervision,” Parsons said. “Like everybody that worked there was basically just thrown to the wolves and left to have it run. And for the most part, everybody tried to give it their all, but there’s only so much you can do without any support backing you up.”
Read more Sodexo Coverage:
Sodexo-run WVU dining halls repeatedly violated health code standards
WVU freshman says dining hall served her raw chicken
WVU board turns up the heat on Sodexo after raw chicken incident
Health inspectors keep finding violations at WVU dining halls
Dining and Cooking