Covid-19 OSHA Complaint, Boyd Corporation, 53208 Columbia Drive, ELKHART, IN, 46514, USA

53208 Columbia Drive, Elkhart, 46514 Indiana, United States

AT SOME TIME BETWEEN 5/2/20 AND 5/5/20 AN EMPLOYEE IN THE FRONT OFFICE BROUGHT TO ATTENTION OF MANAGEMENT THAT THEY HAD BEEN EXPOSED TO COVID, AND WAS SHOWING SYMPTOMS OF COVID. ON 10/5/20 SOME EMPLOYEES WERE NOTIFIED THEY MAY HAVE POSSIBLY COME IN CONTACT WITH A PERSON WHO COULD BE POSITIVE FOR COVID, WHILE THE REMAINING EMPLOYEES WERE GIVEN NO NOTIFICATION AT ALL THEY HAD BEEN EXPOSED TO COVID. ON 10/6/20 THE REMAINING EMPLOYEES IN OFFICE BEGAN QUESTIONING WHERE ALL OTHER EMPLOYEES WERE AT, AND WERE GIVEN A COURTESY REASSURANCE CALL BY MANAGEMENT, WHO WAS NOT IN OFFICE, THAT THOSE EMPLOYEES HAD POSSIBLY BEEN IN CONTACT WITH SOMEONE WHO WAS EXPOSED TO COVID. THESE EMPLOYEES WERE TOLD WHAT SEEMED LIKE A STORY TO REASSURE THEM THAT THEY WOULD BE FINE AND HAD NOT BEEN EXPOSED TO THE PERSON ENOUGH TO WARRANT A NOTIFICATION THAT THEY HAD BEEN EXPOSED, ALTHOUGH A COUPLE OF THESE EMPLOYEES THEMSELVES HAD SYMPTOMS OF BEING ILL (IE: STUFFY NOSE, COUGHING ETC). ONE EMPLOYEE LEFT FOR THE DAY SINCE SHE FELT UNEASY AND HAD SYSMPTOMS OF BEING ILL TO GO BE TESTED FOR COVID CONSIDERING THE INFORMATION BEING NEWLY GIVEN. AT NO TIME WERE THE REMAINING EMPLOYEES TOLD THE EXPOSED PERSON ACTUALLY TESTED POSITIVE. ON 10/8/20, IT WAS LEARNED THAT THE EMPLOYEES THAT WERE INFORMED NOT TO COME TO THE OFFICE WERE ACTUALLY INFORMED THE EMPLOYEE THAT HAD BEEN EXPOSED ACTUALLY DID TEST POSITIVE ON 10/6/20 WHICH IS WHY THEY WERE TOLD TO NOT COME IN. THIS EMPLOYEE HAD THE SAME AMOUNT OF CONTACT WITH ALMOST EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE IN THE OFFICE AS THE EMPLOYEES THAT WERE INFORMED TO STAY HOME AS THE ONES THAT RECEIVED NO NOTIFICATION. OUT OF THE EMPLOYEES IN THE OFFICE, 20 OR SO TOTAL, 7 EMPLOYEES WERE NOT NOTIFIED, AND 3 OF THOSE EMPLOYEES ARE NOW POSITIVE CONFIRMED FOR SURE, WITH 5 CONFIRMED POSITIVE CASES FOR SURE OUT OF 20 EMPLOYEES IN A CONFINED OFFICE SPACE. NO SANITATION OR CLEANING WAS DONE AFTER THESE CASES WERE CONFIRMED, AND EMPLOYEES WERE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO THE OFFICE TO WORK IF THEY WERE NEGATIVE. ON 10/12 SANITATION AND CLEANING WAS FINALLY SCHEDULED. DURING THIS ENTIRE TIME, EMPLOYEES FROM THE PRODUCTION FLOOR WERE ALLOWED TO COME INTO THE OFFICE, AND NO OTHER NOTIFICATION WAS GIVEN TO OTHER EMPLOYEES OF THE POSITIVE CASES, EVEN THOUGH OUT OF THE 5 POSITIVE CASES, ALL OF THOSE EMPLOYEES HAVE CONSTANT INTERACTION WITH ALL EMPLOYEES IN THE PLANT. SOME EMPLOYEES WERE MADE TO GO GET TESTED ON 10/8/20 WHILE OTHERS WERE NOT, AND STILL ALLOWED TO WORK EVEN THOUGH THEY SHARE AN OFFICE WITH AN EMPLOYEE THAT TESTED POSITIVE, AND THIS EMPLOYEE IS STILL WORKING IN THE OFFICE AND IN THE PLANT WITH OTHER PRODUCTION WORKERS. THIS IS NOT A PARTICULAR PERSONS NEGLIGENCE, HOWEVER, HAD PROPER NOTIFICATION BEEN DONE, THE POSITIVE CASES COULD BE LESS. THERE HAS STILL BEEN NO NOTIFICATION TO OTHER EMPLOYEES OF MULTIPLE POSITIVE CASES OF EMPLOYEES THAT ARE AROUND EACH OTHER REGULARLY. IT ALMOST SEEMED AS IF THE EMPLOYEES PAY GRADE IS WHAT CONSTITUTED WHETHER THEY RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OR NOT, AND WHAT THEIR JOB FUNCTION WAS TO THE COMPANY. SOME OF THE AFFECTED EMPLOYEES HAVE UNDERLYING HEALTH CONDITIONS, AND ELDERLY IMMUNE COMPROMISED FAMILY MEMEBERS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AFFECTED. SOME OF THE EMPLOYEES THAT ARE AFFECTED NOW HAVE FAMILY MEMEBERS THAT ARE TESTING POSITIVE FOR COVID ALSO, WHICH COULD POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IF THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN NOTIFICATION THEY HAD BEEN EXPOSED. THIS WAS GROSSLY NEGLIGENT ON THE EMPLOYERS PART.


Source: Osha.gov | Receipt Date: 2020-10-12