As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to push many to work from home through guidelines, essential employees are exposed to the the virus in the workplace. Concerns are emerging over company responses and worker treatment.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened an inquiry into telecom company, Charter Communications, after employees were asked to report to offices despite government stay-at-home guidelines. The inquiry will investigate Charter’s worker management during the pandemic. As of this week, 230 employees have tested positive for coronavirus. The company employs a total of 95,000.
A spokesperson for Charter announced a “significant majority” of office and call center employees are now working from home, however, exact numbers weren’t specified. Telecommunication business are considered essential in the state of New York, but in Connecticut, where Charter is based, essential employees are asked to work from home if possible.
Last month TechCrunch reported Denver-based Charter employee, Nick Wheeler, sent an email to the senior vice president and hundreds of company engineers.
Wheeler questioned the company’s response to the pandemic by stating: “I do not understand why we are still coming into the office as the COVID-19 pandemic surges around us. The CDC guidelines are clear. The CDPHE guidelines are clear. The WHO guidelines are clear. The science of social distancing is real. We have the complete ability to do our jobs entirely from home,” he wrote. “A hazard condition isn’t acceptable for the infrastructure beyond the short-term. Why is it acceptable for our health?” Hours later he resigned from Charter when given the option to either work from the office or take sick leave.
Other accusations of a “profit-over-workers” mentality are surfacing from various sectors across the country. We’ve collected an extensive list of employees speaking out as to what’s going on within each company outside of PR announcements. With protests popping up across the country to reopen businesses, will they start to cave?
Staff Writer, Allison Yano is an artist and writer based in LA. She holds a BFA in Applied Visual Arts and Minor in Writing from Oregon State University, and an MFA in Fine Art from Pratt Institute. Her waking hours are filled with an insatiable love of storytelling, science, and soy lattes.
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