Fired for lying on Covid19 employee form. Fair or not? And what is the plan for such events?

[tulipsandroses]

A friend of mine works at a restaurant. She's now in quarantine because one of her coworkers tested posted for Covid 19 and she worked the same shift with her. Everyone on that shift was taken off the schedule and was told to quarantine and get tested. My friend has some PTO for 10 days, then after that nothing.

Back to the employee that tested positive- that employee was fired. Fired for lying it seems. Everyday before clocking in, they have to check if they have been exposed to someone who is Covid 19 positive or have any symptoms. This is on top of getting their temps checked. Apparently this employee did have a family member who was Covid 19 positive, but kept coming to work anyway and was checking no on the form to be able to clock in.

Fair firing?

More importantly, what is the plan for these incidents as we go forward? Not for the person with Covid - as I understand that some employers are providing Covid sick leave with pay. Mine does. But the employees that get pulled out of work for possible exposure - My friend is using her 10 days of PTO - She'll have 4 days of no pay.

All this open up conversation, with no real planning as if the virus is just going to magically disappear.

[bluedye33139]

1. Lying to employer. It's unfortunately grounds for firing.

Last edited Sun Jul 12, 2020, 12:06 PM - Edit history (1)

I knew someone years ago who was HIV positive and whose workplace did periodic tuberculosis screenings. One of the questions on the screening asked point blank whether or not you have HIV, and my acquaintance did not want to disclose his HIV status to his place of work.* Eventually, we found a workaround by seeking advice all over the place. He could refuse to answer but instead could obtain a test for TB from his PCP and give that to the employer.

The basic rule is that you can't lie to your employer. If he had lied, it would have been grounds for dismissal if they ever found out. lying to your employer is a huge problem. Even when it seems inconsequential.


*The screener basically asks a bunch of questions, and if any of them are a yes, a person is referred for the TB antibody test.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Yes, fair. Lying about important issues regarding employment is firable...nt

[RockRaven]

3. Lying about exposure to a disease which is both deadly, highly infectious, and a threat

to the business (like for example having to quarantine irreplaceable employees, or getting a bad reputation amongst your customers for being a hazardous place) is definitely fair grounds for firing.

However, businesses ought to do better about sharing the financial burden of hourly wage workers who must quarantine because of exposure. The working class won't survive the year otherwise. And it would erode somewhat the incentive for lying like that.

[yardwork]

4. I feel badly for this employee. They're suffering for our government's failures.

The poorest, most vulnerable people are having to make a choice between following rules and surviving. That's cruel, and stupid. Not only is it inhumane, it's lousy public health policy.

Many countries around the world are handling this so much better. And they're getting the pandemic under control.

I've never felt more strongly that we need more socialism in the United States.

[Ms. Toad]

5. Yes. Do you really have to ask if intentionally exposing customers to COVID 19

Last edited Sun Jul 12, 2020, 01:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Is fair grounds for termination?

That employee has been exposed to a highly contagious deadly disease that is transmissible before symptoms appear. Having a family member with COVID 19 is a superspreading event. They lied about that exposure in order to supply the gun for a game of Russian roulette with customers and co-workers. You want to know if it is fair to fire them? Ask the people who die as a result of their actions. Ask the people who are now quarantined as a result of that lie, who are now at risk for COVID 19 and who are forced to take leave potentially without pay.

Yes, we need to figure out how to accommodate people who are exposed to COVID 19, so they aren't desperate enough to do as this person did. But even if there is no accommodation, 138,000 dead and 3.4 million infected is reason enough to fire anyone who lies about exposure in order to avoid forced time off.

[Igel]

6. Your friend is using her 10 days of PTO and losing 4 days of pay.

Because the employee lied. There's your blame, your responsibility. No lie, no quarantine.

If it's true for your friend, it's likely true for the other members of the shift.

Although I suspect in the wash the number of days of PTO used might be lower, and pay for days missed reduced. Unless she works every single day and shifts can be shifted to different days.


This is the plan for these incidents. Kind employers and those that can afford it will pay COVID-19 sick time (etc.). The others won't. I've worked for places where the budget was tight--and additional few thousand here or there would have caused problems beyond the difficulty of not having work-time covered (and the work done).

Now, imagine that you pay for everybody who checks the "yes, I'm tainted" box. No questions asked, they're off for two weeks. Without pay, that's a problem. Unlikely to have false claims too often. Flip it: Check the box, get two weeks off with pay.