Letter from Legal Sea Foods

submitted via email on 9/1/08 to info@openmediaboston.org with the subject line "Latino Workers Launch Campaign..."

Good morning,

In reference to your article 8/28/08, please know that I did not receive any calls from Open Media Boston as reported. When contacted by Univision on 8/25/08, we provided the following response:

Legal Sea Foods contracted with the local Coverall franchisee for cleaning services, but terminated its relationship over 7 months ago when it learned that Coverall was not treating its workers fairly.

Legal Sea Foods contracts with its cleaning services only after completing extensive due diligence. When employees of Coverall complained to our restaurant managers about alleged injustices, the situation was immediately investigated. The relationship with the MA franchisee was not only terminated, but our Senior Vice-President called Coverall's national ownership in FL to act on the behest of local Coverall employees.

Roger Berkowitz, President & CEO

Ida Faber, Director of Marketing

Editor's Note: David Goodman, author of last week's OMB article "Latino Workers Launch Campaign Against Labor Abuse; Call for Apology from Local Restaurants," maintains that he left voice mails requesting comment at the Boston office of Legal Sea Foods.

Goodman has issued the following statement for the record, "First of all, thank you to Mr. Berkowitz for his thoughtful response to the allegations made by activists from Centro Presente and Chelsea Collaborative. But just to clarify the issue of whether or not I sought comment from a spokesperson for his restaurant chain prior to publication of my story: On Monday, August 25th, I called and left messages at what I deduced was the corporate offices of Cheesecake Factory in CA and Legal Sea Foods in Boston. The Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of The Cheesecake Factory called me back three times that day to clarify the position of his company. I never heard back from Legal Sea Foods. As News Editor of Open Media Boston and a veteran journalist, I am dedicated to always making an attempt to seek out as many points of view as possible; especially those directly impacted by a particular story or issue. Open Media Boston is committed to the principle that fair journalism requires seeking "the best available version of the truth."