(Newser)
– REI employees accuse the sporting goods company of a lack of transparency around workers who test positive for COVID-19. Among the most obvious examples, as reported by the New York TimesThis is the case of an employee in Grand Rapids, Mich., who sent a message to his coworkers on July 6 to inform them that he had tested positive for coronavirus the previous week, but that the store management had ordered him that he did not tell anyone or publish about The diagnosis on social networks. While the store closed on July 3, the day after the test results came back positive, to investigate “potential” exposure to the virus, managers finally determined that no one had been exposed and reopened the store the next day. “It wasn’t until the person sent out that group message that many people didn’t know that,” says an employee who resigned, in part, over the incident.
The uproar over that incident prompted employees at other stores to share similar stories about management that did not adequately inform them of co-workers who had tested positive. In response, REI changed its guidelines (which initially only asked that anyone who had been within six feet of the positive COVID person for more than 15 minutes be informed) so that managers can now notify the entire team if anyone Test positive, and tell employees when the person worked at the store. The new guidelines also begin to track exposure earlier; REI initially only tracked exposure within 48 hours of the test results, not the day the test was performed. “Some employees wanted transparency above what CDC guidelines and our policies directed, so we made that adjustment,” says a REI representative. However, the company has not addressed the claim that the Grand Rapids employee was instructed not to disclose his diagnosis. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
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