Sean Penn wrote a blunt 2,000-word email to employees of his nonprofit organization who are helping run a COVID-19 vaccine website at Los Angeles Dodger Stadium after two of them complained online about their lunches and long hours of job.
The 60-year-old man attacked the staff of his non-profit organization CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) because of complaints that appeared in a New York Times article last week about the vaccine launch at Dodger Stadium.
In the email, which was obtained by the LA Times, Penn suggested that those who were “predisposed to a culture of complaint” and “broad-based cyber complaint” should stop.
He accused those who commented of being involved in a “broad betrayal of all” and described the “highly visible” comments as “shameful entries” and “obscene criticisms”.
The comments in question were made by people who claim to be officials at the Dodger vaccine site.
Sean Penn, 60, attacked the staff of his nonprofit CORE over complaints that appeared in a New York Times article last week about the vaccine’s release at Dodger Stadium. He is photographed helping a COVID-19 vaccine site in Los Angeles in December
The first comment, written by ‘team # 2’, disagreed with the fact that workers receive ‘the same old lettuce packages’ at lunch every day.
‘We did NOT get Kreme Krispy for breakfast. In fact, we usually DON’T have breakfast, just coffee. And lunch is NOT a subway. It’s the same old lettuce wrapped up every day. It’s free lunch for employees / volunteers, so I’m not complaining, but still … it’s not the subway ‘, wrote the person.
The second comment, written by ‘CORE team’, contained complaints about working ’18 hours a day, 6 days a week ‘without any backup.
“It exists because the mayor ordered us to move from a test site to a vaccination site in less than a week. If we had more time for the transition, we would not have employees working during those hours without the opportunity to take breaks – they are schedulers and are essential to the functioning of the website.
‘Without them, we wouldn’t be vaccinating. The mayor more or less ordered an OSHA violation. There is a shipping container on site that is a designated space for overworked employees to cry. If you can’t get into this shipping container, it’s because the employees are crying inside. Garcetti created these conditions and seems like a hero for that. ‘
CORE and Penn representative Mara Buxbaum contested the long hours, saying they worked eight-hour shifts and were paid by the hour.
“Penn’s internal memo for the team speaks for itself,” she said.
The vaccine website is run by the city of Los Angeles in partnership with the LA Fire Department, the Dodgers, Curative and Penn’s nonprofit.
The first comment, written by ‘team # 2’, disagreed with the fact that workers receive ‘the same lettuce packages’ at lunch every day
The second comment, written by ‘CORE team’, contained complaints about working ’18 hours a day, 6 days a week ‘without any backup
Penn received the COVID-19 vaccine last month because he and his charity team are helping to administer the doses
It is unclear how many Penn employees make up the group at the Dodger vaccine site. It is also unclear whether the two people who commented on the initial story are actually CORE employees.
Penn received the COVID-19 vaccine last month because he and his charity team are helping to administer the doses.
His non-profit organization started offering free COVID-19 test sites last year during the pandemic.
Penn’s email described the comments left by his team as “dissent on the closest fruit to cyberspace”.
‘For whoever is the author of these, understand that in every cell of my body there is a vitriol for the way their actions reflect so harshly on their brothers and sisters in arms. I have advised myself and here I will avoid using the words that I would otherwise choose to describe the character of his actions, ‘he wrote.
He added that CORE has ‘strict complaints procedures’ for employees and that anyone who is predisposed to complain online should leave.
‘Get out of CORE. Give up for your colleagues who don’t give up. Give up for your peers, who deeply recognize that this is a moment in time. A moment of service that we must all incorporate at times to the point of collapse, ‘he wrote.
Penn’s nonprofit organization, CORE, has been helping to manage the COVID vaccine site at Dodger Stadium
CORE employees are pictured above in yellow vests at the mass vaccination site in Los Angeles last month