Roger Berkowitz, President and CEO of American seafood restaurant chain Legal Sea Foods, is calling for stricter safety checks for carbon monoxide (CO) at all the company's restaurants after an incident on Long Island over the weekend left one restaurant manager dead.
According to published reports Steve Nelson, a 55-year-old manager at the Legal Sea Foods in Huntington, N.Y., died of CO poisoning that officials said came from a leak that began in the restaurant's basement.
In a statement, Berkowitz said he was "devastated by the news," and pledged to make sure the company did more to prevent similar tragedies from happening.
"In the wake of Saturday night's tragic events, I have instructed our operations team to conduct an exhaustive safety check at all our restaurants," he said. 'This includes not only ensuring that we meet local codes as we did in Huntington, but putting a plan in place to exceed them in order to safeguard everyone."
Berkowitz said the restaurant, located at the Walt Whitman Mall, remains closed as the company continues to work with local officials.
February 25, 2014
