ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2008 > July > 10 > Entry
Mistakes on the job: Who should be held responsible?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This week, the AJC reported that Rodney “Krook” Hawkins died from a severe allergic reaction while dining at a Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant in Lovejoy. Hawkins’ wife claims her husband, who has had a severe shellfish allergy since childhood, did not order a dish with crab, but the waitress wrote down the wrong order and served him an entree with crab in it. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation agrees but won’t be filing any criminal charges in the case. Ruby Tuesday conducted their own investigation and claim that Hawkins was served the dish that he ordered, which contained shellfish. We may never know who is telling the truth in this case, but it does raise some interesting points.
There’s always a chance for human error, and we’ve all made mistakes at work. Do you think some positions should be held to a higher standard of responsibility? For example, should a doctor who prescribes the wrong medication for a patient be held more liable than a restaurant server who brings the wrong dish to a patron, even if the result in each case is death?
For those of you that work in service fields, have you ever made a mistake that brought harm to the customer? Did you fess up or did you try to shirk responsibility? When customers know they have a potentially life-threatening condition, how much of the burden of protecting themselves should fall on their own shoulders and not on the place of business that’s serving them?
Comments
By MJ
July 11, 2008 9:05 AM | Link to this
I don’t understand why Ruby Tuesday just will not apologize and accept responsibility. It is quite obivious… I recently ate at a totally different Ruby Tuesday in Georgia and the same exact thing occurred. Luckily for me, I am not allergic to shellfish!
By Reality Check
July 11, 2008 9:40 AM | Link to this
Ruby Tuesday has no reason to admit to a “mistake” and accept any sort of responsibility because - as anyone can see - this was a SCAM.
By Sassy
July 11, 2008 9:43 AM | Link to this
*When customers know they have a potentially life-threatening condition, how much of the burden of protecting themselves should fall on their own shoulders and not on the place of business that’s serving them? *
!00% of the time and Everytime!!! Those who chose NOT to take responsibility for their own actions are always the first to blame someone else for not protecting them.
Wake up, People! Take care of yourselves because no one knows you better than you!
By STEVE LLOYD
July 11, 2008 9:44 AM | Link to this
I make mistakes at work. As they may not cost someone their life, I have found that as a person, I have to take responsibility for those mistakes. Not only does that boost my self respect, but I think your co-workers repect you more in the end if you “fess up”
By linny
July 11, 2008 9:54 AM | Link to this
RC, I hardly think it’s a scam. With two dishes named so similarly, in a noisy restaurant, it would be quite easy for a waitron to hear incorrectly, or to abbreviate the order until returning to a station, and then transcribing it incorrectly … however, i DO agree with Sassy pretty much — if you KNOW you have a life-threatening allergy, it’s up to you to ascertain what is safe and what is not, and to be certain that you are not partaking of something that could kill you (the fact that the guy is dead is why i don’t think it’s a scam).
He obviously knew he was allergic, you don’t go through life just accidentally NOT eating something with seafood in it — and then one time ordering something clearly defined as containing seafood.
it’s a “s/he (waitron) said—she (wife) said” situation: did the man order Fresco or Oscar? We will never know, but odds are he ordered Fresco and the waitron HEARD Oscar, or wrote an abbreviation that s/he later mistook for Oscar.
Regardless, it’s sad that he’s dead.
By THarp
July 11, 2008 10:17 AM | Link to this
A person who has had and has known since they were small that they have a severe allergic reaction to shellfish would not knowingly/purposely choose to eat any item off a menu that would incite a potentially fatal allergic reaction. Obviously, an error was made on behalf of the restaurant and they need to own up to this error and take responsibility for what happened to Mr. Hawkins. Ms. Johnson states that we may never know who is telling the truth in this case but the truth is blatantly apparent - this man has lived 35 years with knowledge of his allergic condition and was in the prime of his life, why would he risk death for money that would not stand to benefit him. People always assume the worst when it involves an African American person but had it been a Caucasian thoughts regarding this would have been tee-totally different. Lastly, to the family of this young man I truly sympathize with your loss especially since it was brought on by a senseless error that didn’t have to happen - my condolences to you!!
By Gigi
July 11, 2008 10:45 AM | Link to this
I was in a smoothie shop one day, and I heard a lady in front of me carefully explain to the person taking her order not to put any sweetner in her husband’s smoothie because he was diabetic. On the way out the door, the husband took a sip of his smoothie and returned to the counter. The person who mixed the smoothie had put a sweetner in the husband’s smoothie and admitted it. I was shocked because this person was listening to the conversation that the wife had with the person taking the order.
By KK
July 11, 2008 11:36 AM | Link to this
It sounds like Ruby Tuesday needs to correct their menu or this may happen again. Sounds like 2 similar dishes, but one with shellfish. Many people are allergic to shellfish. To have 2 dishes so similar in format and name is easy to confuse. Each dish needs a totally different name and place in the menu, so not to confuse the waiter. These folks have to work with a lot of noise,distractions and sometimes not the best skills. God help them, when the order gets to the kitchen staff. So much room for error. Food allergy decisions are the responsibility of the customer, but taking the order correctly is the waiters job, and calling it back to the customer is their job as well. There are so many allergy prone foods mixed into restaurant sauces, etc. If I had an allergy, I would be reluctant to eat out these days. My prayers are with the family.
By Sassy
July 11, 2008 11:51 AM | Link to this
THarp … why was it necessary to raise the issue of Race?!? A life lost, is a loss to those close to it.
Secondly, if there was to be any confusion on the order (due to similar sounding dishes, background noise, distractions … whatever excuse/reason to be found) the customer can always ask server to confirm the order before leaving the table and heading to the kitchen.
Again! … self responsiblity. Something of which I belive you lack.
By Dan
July 11, 2008 12:11 PM | Link to this
It was apparent that a previous poster made a few mistakes so I made a few corrections, to more accurately portray the situation you are welcome
A person who has had and has known since they were small that they have a severe allergic reaction to shellfish should know better than to eat any item off their plate that would incite a potentially fatal allergic reaction. Obviously, an error was made by the deceased and the family needs to accept that and realize that the responsibility for what happened lies primarily with Mr. Hawkins. Ms. Johnson states that we may never know who is telling the truth in this case but the truth is blatantly apparent - this man has lived 35 years with knowledge of his allergic condition and was in the prime of his life, why would he risk death when simply glancing at his plate would have saved him People always assume the worst when it involves a big company with deep pockets had it been a Caucasian thoughts regarding this would have been tee-totally different, that family would not have blamed anyone. Lastly, to the family of this young man I truly sympathize with your loss especially since it was brought on by a senseless self inflicted error that didn’t have to happen - my condolences to you!!
By SM
July 11, 2008 12:20 PM | Link to this
This was an unfortunate accident—end of story. However, if this guy had a food allergy all his life, why didn’t he have an epi pen? Anyone with severe allergies knows to carry this life-saving device everywhere they go.
By ronda
July 11, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this
While it would have been advisable for the man to carry around an epipen since seafood is so prominent in food today, how would he know what crab tastes like. Since he’s deathly allergic to it, it is highly likely that he has never tasted it before.
I know someone highly allergic to seafood that doesn’t carry an epipen and he’s taking his chances every time he goes into a restaurant or eats at someone’s house. BTW, Fresco and Oscar do sound too much alike and should be changed. The restaurant should at least say how sorry they are this is unfortunate occurrence happened.
By Sugar
July 11, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this
Didn’t his wife notice the crab meat? She seems to have noticed everything else….
By Maniac is accurate
July 11, 2008 2:08 PM | Link to this
The only mistake I ever made at work that harmed a customer was the time I decked the jack@ss who cursed me out over some stupid thing. “Oh, I’m sorry. I have muscle spasms and my hand slipped. Are you OK?”
By Becky
July 11, 2008 2:21 PM | Link to this
Sugar, LMAO…Can’t say that I think Freco & Oscar sound alike either..Manic, I did that once..Had a guy put his hand up my shorts leg while I was delivering a round of drinks one night..So when it was time to give him his drink,oops, it slipped out of my hand..He laughed, paid for the round, tipped me & we remained friends for years after that..
By Jerry Watson
July 17, 2008 8:53 AM | Link to this
Human error has been around forever and will continue to exist for as long as humans exist. Human error is an inevitable part of the learning process for humans. Human factors is the study of how humans interface with their environment and propose solutions to reduce the liklihood of making an error. Unfortunately the knowledge is seldom applied. Studies show that humans make errors more frequently when mentally and/or physically tired but hospitals and other facilities require their employees to work 10 or 12 hours daily. Studies show that the liklihood of errors increase when similar names are used but how does one explain the medications CIDEX AND CEDEX. We need to realize that the only time that humans will not make errors is when they no longer exist. Given that, we need to take more responsibilty for our own actions and the actions of others.
By MamaS
July 17, 2008 10:20 AM | Link to this
Human error yes. Human responsibility, yes. Corporate responsibility - say what? If this had happened in Japan, the President and CEO would have gone to the family’s home and made a personal apology for his death. The manager of the restaurant would have resigned (not been fired!) due to his shame that a waitress he hired such an error. The waitress would not have been punished, because it was a human error - due to noise and similarity of names. The family of the deceased would have accepted the apologies and would NOT have sued anyone. Sometimes I wish we were a civilized country!
By Wanda
July 17, 2008 12:37 PM | Link to this
even if Ruby Tuesdays made a mistake in the order, the two dishes look totally different. If you order a dish with tomatoes on it, and your plate gets to the table and there aren’t tomatoes on it, or in this case even worse, crab meat, there is a problem and it can be easily corrected before you take a bite. Eating the product it the consumers fault. I have eaten at Ruby Tuesdays several times and the Chicken oscar is my favorite. There are jumbo pieces of crab on top of the chicken, anyone who looks at the plate can see them!