DETROIT (WXYZ) — A Detroit man says he was working a Michigan Education Association conference last Thursday when he noticed live and dead cockroaches inside the Marriott at the Renaissance Center kitchen that serves a banquet hall.
7 News Detroit brought the claims to the attention of the Detroit Health Department, which is now investigating.
One worker decided to speak out anonymously in fear of losing work. He has found work through Instawork for three years and gets contracted to do all types of jobs at restaurants, plants and hotels wherever he’s needed.
Last Thursday morning, he was sent to work the Michigan Education Association Winter Conference at the Marriott downtown. He was in charge of serving coffee and food. Quickly after arriving to work, he noticed the cockroaches.
Watch his video below:
"When I said something, they were just like continue to work, it's OK — and it’s not," he said. “I was ready to just get out of there. I thought it was disgusting."
He claims the roaches were on the counters where food was prepared. He brought it up to people in charge in the kitchen and claims he was told to just kill them.
"Nobody was saying anything. They were just walking by like it was just a normal day. They didn’t even really care, and it didn’t sit right with me," he said.
The Detroit Health Department investigated the incident and Chief Public Health Officer Denise Fair Razo provided the following statement:
"Upon receiving notification of the issue at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, the Detroit Health Department’s Environmental Health Inspectors promptly conducted an inspection of the hotel’s main kitchen. During their visit on Friday, February 7th, they observed that cleaning efforts were underway and that pest control treatments had been recently applied. The inspection revealed only a few dead roaches present at the time, which is an indication the treatments are being effective. We will be conducting a follow up visit in the coming days to check on progress."
The health department added that it's not uncommon for restaurants to have periodic issues with pests, which often can come in with food deliveries.
“For them to prepare food with roaches crawling around is so disgusting and with Marriott being a popular chain hotel, they need to do better in their kitchen," Charlinna Williams said.
Williams knows the whistle blower employee personally and is a cook herself. She says she's disappointment to hear of continuous pest issues in the city. Late last month, Lafayette Coney Island experienced a rat problem.
“It starts with the management in the building and then whoever runs the kitchen. They all need to be held accountable for that and not just skip over it like it’s nothing," Williams said.
7 News Detroit reached out to a Marriott manager who said the hotel has no comment.
The Michigan Education Association says they were not aware of the roaches and only found out through 7 News Detroit. They are concerned with the videos and sent an email to their members adding they will be taking this up with hotel management.
