Denny's safety record at a glance
Denny's has been the subject of 12 Cal/OSHA inspections in California since 2000, opened between Feb 6, 2002 and Sep 28, 2026. 11 of them were complaint inspections. 6 of them produced citations, 14 in all: 0 serious. Inspectors proposed $4,720 in penalties; after appeals and settlements the current total is $2,830. The largest single penalty, $1,110, came from an inspection opened Oct 9, 2019 in Santa Rosa. That places the employer at #34,713 of 122,854 California employers in the database by penalties. The same employer has 2 WARN layoff notices on file with the EDD. It also appears in 18 federal wage and hour cases.
Industry as coded by the inspecting office: Accommodation and Food Services. Worksites in El Cajon, Sacramento, Ukiah, Placerville, Atwater, Santa Rosa, Fresno, Los Angeles.
Every inspection, newest first
Click a date for the citations in that inspection.
| Opened | City | Why | Result | Proposed | Penalty | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 28, 2026 | El Cajon | Complaint | open, no citations yet | 0 | 0 | open |
| Jul 10, 2025 | Sacramento | Complaint | 1 citation | $700 | $700 | Apr 6, 2026 |
| Aug 18, 2023 | Ukiah | Complaint | no inspection made | 0 | 0 | Aug 22, 2023 |
| Jul 7, 2023 | Placerville | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Dec 22, 2023 |
| Jun 29, 2021 | Atwater | Referral | no citations | 0 | 0 | Sep 10, 2021 |
| Oct 9, 2019 | Santa Rosa | Complaint | 6 citations | $2,910 | $1,110 | Sep 17, 2020 |
| Jul 11, 2016 | Fresno | Complaint | 1 citation | $280 | $280 | Nov 21, 2016 |
| Feb 26, 2015 | Fresno | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Mar 6, 2015 |
| May 18, 2004 | Los Angeles | Complaint | 2 citations | $275 | $185 | Dec 8, 2006 |
| Apr 1, 2004 | Salinas | Complaint | 1 citation | $150 | $150 | Oct 29, 2004 |
| Aug 2, 2002 | Fort Bragg | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Aug 6, 2002 |
| Feb 6, 2002 | Stockton | Complaint | 3 citations | $405 | $405 | Dec 8, 2009 |
The rules this employer was cited under
- 8 CCR 3203, Injury and Illness Prevention Program: 4 citations, $580
- 8 CCR 5194, Hazard communication: 3 citations, $505
- 8 CCR 5142: 2 citations, $415
- 8 CCR 3362, General sanitation requirements: 1 citation, $700
- 8 CCR 5162, Emergency eyewash and shower: 1 citation, $185
- 8 CCR 3400, Medical services and first aid: 1 citation, $185
- 8 CCR 6151, Portable fire extinguishers: 1 citation, $150
- 8 CCR 3273, Working area, floors and walkways: 1 citation, $110
Local pages: El Cajon employment lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer.
How to read this record
Each row is one inspection by Cal/OSHA (or, rarely, federal OSHA) of one worksite. Why is the reason it was opened. Proposed is the penalty the inspector assessed; penalty is the current figure after any appeal or settlement. "Serious" means a realistic possibility of death or serious harm; "willful" and "repeat" carry penalties up to $162,851 each.
Citations document that the employer was told, in writing, what the rule required and when. That knowledge is often the center of a retaliation case: a worker who complained about the hazard an inspector later cited, and was then fired or cut, has a Labor Code 6310 claim, with lost wages and attorney's fees.
Full explainer: how to read a Cal/OSHA record.
If you work, or worked, at Denny's
Write down what you reported, to whom and when, and what changed afterward: shifts, pay, duties, write-ups. Request the inspection file from the Cal/OSHA district office using the activity number on the inspection page. An injury goes through workers' compensation; a firing, demotion or threat after a safety complaint or injury report is an employment claim with a one-year deadline at the Labor Commissioner (Labor Code 6310) and a longer one in court. Free, confidential review: (800) 371-3088 or send what you have.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement data, California inspections. Record last checked Nov 1, 2026. Back to the safety tracker.
About this data: Records come from the U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA enforcement datasets (inspection, violation, accident and accident injury tables), which carry Cal/OSHA's state-plan inspections alongside federal ones. We load every inspection of a California worksite opened since January 1, 2000 and refresh it weekly. Employer names, addresses and industry codes are as the inspecting office recorded them; similar names are grouped where they clearly refer to the same employer. A citation can be reduced, vacated or withdrawn on appeal, and an inspection can stay open for months, so a record can change. Penalties shown as "current" reflect the latest status in the federal file. This page is public information about the employer's regulatory record, not legal advice and not a statement that any person was harmed or any law broken beyond what the record states.