Walmart urged to bolster virus rules - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Twelve U.S. attorneys general have asked Walmart Inc.to do more to protect its employees and customers from exposure to the coronavirus.

In a letter sent last week to Walmart Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon, they requested documents related to Walmart’s policies and practices and urged the retailer to adopt a sick leave policy that provides the minimum protections required under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

Attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Washington state and the District of Columbia signed the letter, dated June 2.

They asked for a response from McMillon to their extensive list of requested documents by June 8, “in light of the immediate public health crisis and the urgency for Walmart employees.”

The coalition, led by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, said it’s hearing from around the country of stores’ inadequate compliance with safety measures and failure to inform workers when a colleague is diagnosed with covid-19.

Other concerns include insufficient sick leave policies and pressure put on employees by store managers to return to work even if exhibiting symptoms of the virus, Raoul said in a news release.

These conditions “hamper the ability of our states to protect public health,” Raoul said in the letter to McMillon. “We believe it is unconscionable that low-wage, hourly Walmart employees must forgo a paycheck in order to protect their colleagues and the public.”

The coalition’s letter follows one sent to McMillon last month by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., along with Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and nine members of the House, expressing similar concerns.

A Walmart spokesman said Friday that company executives had not yet had a chance to formally respond to the letter from the attorneys general. In an emailed statement that repeated nearly verbatim the one issued in response to Warren’s letter, the company said that while it may be impossible to trace the source of anyone’s infection, the number of coronavirus cases among Walmart employees reflects those in the general population.

“Sadly, we have also had associates pass away, and we feel their loss deeply,” the Benton-ville-based retailer said.

Walmart is working with local health officials and taken a number of steps to keep customers and employees safe, the company said. These include temporarily closing some stores so they can be sanitized and to test workers for the virus.

Also, following the guidance of public health experts, Walmart said, the company requires workers to wear face coverings and makes masks and gloves available to all employees. It also installed sneeze guards, limited the number of customers in stores and clubs to enable social distancing, and shortened store hours for deep cleaning, among other precautions.

“We also urge our customers to follow social distancing recommendations and wear masks and other facial coverings,” the retailer said.

The Boston Globe reported May 5 that more than 20 Walmart workers nationwide had died from covid-19. Further, the newspaper said, “employees have had to take the critical work of contact tracing into their own hands to try and remain safe.”

A grassroots group of present and former Walmart workers called United for Respect at Walmart has made similar claims against the retailer, and in fact is mentioned in Warren’s letter. The group filed a complaint May 8 with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s regional offices in Massachusetts and provided a copy to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

In the complaint, the group claims Walmart’s policies are endangering workers and are contrary to guidelines set by OSHA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. United for Respect further claims that Walmart is violating OSHA’s General Duty Clause, which requires an employer to “furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.”

A Walmart employee in New Jersey also filed a complaint with OSHA around the same time as the Massachusetts complaint. It makes many of the same claims, including overcrowding of stores; no overnight cleaning; and no effort to inform all employees when co-workers tested positive for the virus.

Walmart declined to comment on the specifics of the OSHA complaints, saying only that “the controls and practices we have in place are consistent with CDC and OSHA covid-19 preparedness guidance.”