Restaurant owners, who have seen their capacity and hours limited by government agencies, struggle to keep the doors open, while their employees, often in a public-facing position, try to stay employed and healthy.
The tension in the sector was exacerbated by the lack of clear federal guidelines, with companies and workers tasked with enforcing health issues, including wearing masks.
With the rise in COVID cases, some hospitality employees have publicly released information about the health of the team, leaving business owners managing the PR crises resulting from their laptops with very mixed results.
“It is more important now than ever, in light of the COVID crisis, to defend ourselves and our coworkers,” said Caylea Jenkins, a former worker at Arden’s Wild Wing Cafe, part of a network primarily in the Southeast. “And, if you leave, (do it) for the people who come after.”
Jenkins was one of several workers, in a scenario of fear in the workplace surrounding the COVID cases at the restaurant, which opened five retaliation proceedings against the company owner with the National Labor Relations Board.
And just this week, amid a flood of online accusations, Vortex Donuts employees filed retaliation lawsuits against the South Slope store with the NLRB.
At issue are several abrupt staff cuts made by donut shop management after two employees tested positive for COVID. Several workers refused to return to work immediately, or at least until they received two negative tests.
Managers did not respond to Asheville Citizen Times questions about the cases, but posted a public response on Facebook addressing – and confirming – workers’ complaints.
“On the morning of Tuesday, December 1, we received the news that one of our employees tested positive for COVID-19,” said the Vortex post. “We closed our store immediately and sent employees to quarantine and take the test.”
On December 9, employees with negative and comfortable results were “invited to return” to work, the post said.
“Employees who initially refused to return to work were not asked to return,” he continued. “We offer referrals for these employees and we really wish them the best. Legally, we are not at liberty to discuss more about these employees and their dismissal. “
Vortex denied hiding a COVID outbreak and then praised the inclusion and safety of its workplace.
“We are proud to offer a safe place to work for those who are willing during this pandemic,” he said.
Workers Organize
Jenkins, who has not worked for Wild Wing since the beginning of the summer, said she was retaliated after expressing concerns about working conditions on private social media channels.
Jenkins said he stayed home while waiting for the results of the COVID test after contacting a sick client, as well as a sick relative of another employee.
In the meantime, she said, Wild Wing management stopped responding to her calls and excluded her from company-wide communications.
Jenkins never went back to work, and Wild Wing owner Dave McFarland denied all allegations to the Citizen Times.
Competing stories highlight the confusion and sometimes fear among some industry workers who feel they have to choose between health and wages.
Since leaving Wild Wing, Jenkins has helped form the Asheville division of Restaurant Opportunities United, which helps workers understand and defend their own rights.
“Ultimately, this is what it is about,” she said. “There is no need to suffer in fear. We can do something about it, which is why we created ROC for Asheville. “
Are restaurants forced to close?
For now, neither the CDC nor Buncombe County requires restaurant closures due to positive cases of COVID among the team.
Nor does the county health department require a restaurant to publicly report positive cases, as long as there is no danger to public health.
Asheville Independent Restaurants executive director Jane Anderson said the health department is handling COVID cases and case-by-case contact tracking.
“So with restaurants, what has clearly happened is that people who need to know, know,” she said.
The fact that some restaurants decide to publicly announce COVID cases to employees can make others appear to be hiding something when they take a more discreet approach.
“When in fact, they are not,” said Anderson. “As far as I know, there is no COVID cluster in a restaurant (AIR member). I’m sure that our AIR restaurants are doing the right thing. “
‘Need for help for the whole industry’
Early Girl Eatery is another local restaurant that is being criticized online after positive cases among employees.
The partner of an Early Girl employee on December 12 wrote anonymously to the Citizen Times, accusing the restaurant of keeping team members’ positive COVID tests secret. The complaint also said that employees feared they would lose their jobs if they did not show up for work.
Co-owner Jesson Gil said that the allegations and others circulating on social media were false and that the restaurant conducted contact tracking on hearing of the positive case.
“Next, we notify all employees of the positive case and encourage them to take the test if they feel they may have been exposed,” he said. Gill said there was no reason for employees to fear losing their jobs.
On December 12, Gils publicly announced that an employee tested positive for COVID. The restaurant temporarily closed on December 14, after another employee tested positive, with plans to reopen on December 17.
“We will not make this call until we receive negative test results from all of our employees,” said Gil in an email to the Citizen Times. “If we don’t consider the situation as safe as possible, we won’t reopen it.”
Gil also said that the inaccuracy of the COVID manual leaves an unusual amount of decision making for the business owner.
“From the government’s point of view, the course of action for restaurants dealing with a positive COVID-19 case is open,” he said.
Gil also said that the closings, ordered by the government or not, had their impacts.
“This year has certainly been challenging financially and there is undoubtedly a need for additional relief across the industry, especially as we enter an uncertain winter season,” he said.
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