Sandra Kunz had been worried for her safety while working as a cashier at a Walmart in Aurora, Colorado, during the pandemic, said her sister, Paula Spellman.
The 72-year-old had lung disease, Spellman said. She was 鈥渦ncomfortable because so many people (were) coming in with coughs.鈥�
But Kunz didn鈥檛 complain to the government agency tasked with protecting workers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
鈥淪andy鈥檚 not a complainer,鈥� Spellman said. 鈥淪he went out and just purchased her own mask and her own gloves.鈥�
It wasn鈥檛 enough. On April 20, 2020, Kunz died from COVID-19 following an outbreak linked to the Aurora Walmart. At least 18 employees got sick and one other worker at Walmart, Lupe Aguilar, died. So did Kunz鈥檚 husband, Gustavous, who Spellman said fell ill after she did.
The Walmart where Kunz worked was one of at least 151 Walmart facilities in 10 states with available data where multiple COVID-19 illnesses were recorded, a reporting consortium led by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found. On average, one quarter of the company鈥檚 stores and distribution centers in those states were affected. In New Mexico, COVID-19 hit nearly every store.
Walmart, the nation鈥檚 largest private employer, provides a window into OSHA鈥檚 performance during the pandemic. Many of the retailer鈥檚 nearly 1.6 million U.S. workers are vulnerable to COVID-19 due to income disparities, racial discrimination or language barriers. They depend on OSHA to guarantee safe and healthy workplaces.
But the worker-safety system is fragmented, reporting from the University of Maryland, Boston University, the University of Arkansas and Stanford University found.
Responsibility is splintered among federal OSHA, state agencies and even local boards of health. As a result, there is little accountability for the failure of government watchdogs to keep workers safe from COVID-19.
The consortium documented that worker safety oversight rarely results in meaningful consequences for companies that aren鈥檛 protecting workers. In Massachusetts, Walmart challenged OSHA鈥檚 investigation into the death of a worker. The company cited OSHA鈥檚 pledge to 鈥渦se discretion鈥� in holding certain employers responsible for COVID-19 cases in the workplace, and wasn鈥檛 penalized.
When workers submit COVID-related complaints to OSHA, only a fraction lead to inspections, and even fewer result in a citation.
As of late March, 3% of closed COVID-19 complaints to federal OSHA offices deemed valid by the agency resulted in an inspection, 12.5% of which led to citations. The average penalty was $13,000; OSHA reduced over a third of the fines.
For Walmart, slightly fewer complaints resulted in inspections 鈥� 2.6%. No inspections led to a citation.
The Biden administration proposed an emergency temporary standard April 26 that would give OSHA greater power to enforce COVID-19 workplace-safety rules. Meanwhile, the cost of the 14-month delay since the pandemic began can be tallied in deaths and thousands of worker illnesses.
In Grants Pass, Oregon, in 2020, Walmart workers and customers filed over 24 complaints about the lack of COVID-19 safeguards with the state worker-safety agency. Yet between December and March, at least 18 people were infected in an outbreak linked to the Walmart.
Karla Holman worked customer service at that Walmart until late January and heard about cases through workplace rumors, never from her employer. Walmart 鈥渨as silent about it,鈥� Holman said.
Workers in other states also said Walmart concealed COVID-19 cases from employees.
Walmart spokesperson Scott Pope said 鈥渨e communicate with associates in stores where there has been a confirmed case.鈥欌��
鈥淎ny time you operate more than 5,000 facilities across the country there is the opportunity for variance in how a recommended process is executed,鈥� he said.
Since April 2020, OSHA has released an updated list, including company names, of complaints related to COVID-19 that the agency has deemed valid. In Colorado, approximately 98% of workplaces with reported COVID-19 outbreaks did not appear on that list as of March.
Twenty-one states have their own OSHA plans overseeing private businesses. They must meet all the federal standards but can impose stricter rules if they choose.
In those states, the rate of complaints was five times higher than in states where the federal government exclusively oversees workplace safety.
More complaints don鈥檛 guarantee more inspections. In Oregon, which is among the states with the most COVID-19 complaints for Walmart, only one complaint led to an inspection. As of March 24, at least 10 Walmart locations in the state were linked to outbreaks with over five cases, including a Hermiston distribution center linked to 124 recorded cases, the consortium found.
A study in Occupational & Environmental Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal, found that infection rates were significantly higher at a grocery retail store than the surrounding community. Moreover, it said store workers who had direct contact with customers were five times more likely to contract COVID-19 than workers who did not.
Rebecca Reindel, the AFL-CIO鈥檚 director of occupational safety and health, said the public-health response focused on 鈥渃heaper measures,鈥� such as masks and hand sanitizer, which shifted the burden of protection onto workers themselves.
It is difficult to know the full extent of COVID-19 in Walmart stores. The company tracks, but does not publicly disclose, COVID-19 cases. Federal OSHA does not track COVID-19 outbreaks. And state agencies responsible for tracking outbreak data rarely disclose it.
When they do, state practices vary widely. Only some release names of companies with COVID-19 outbreaks, and there is no consistent definition of how many cases constitute an outbreak.
Walmart spokesperson Casey Staheli said the company instituted a range of policies, including mask requirements for associates and customers, limiting store hours and capacity, deep cleanings, screening associates鈥� health, installing plastic guards and implementing social distancing in all facilities.
Workers said what鈥檚 on paper often doesn鈥檛 match the real world.
Of 10 Walmart employees in five states interviewed by the Howard Center, just three said they felt safe from COVID-19 exposure at work.
Some workers said they face retaliation if they complain about safety conditions.
Lorinda Dudley was fired from a St. Albans, Vermont, Walmart in March 2020 after asking her manager for protective gear, according to a lawsuit she filed against Walmart in February. She was frightened after a customer coughed repeatedly at her checkout station.
Dudley said her manager rejected her requests, then terminated Dudley when she said she would need to buy her own protection before returning to the register. Walmart tried to block Dudley鈥檚 unemployment claim, saying she quit, Vermont Department of Labor records show.
鈥淚 just wanted to be safe,鈥欌�� Dudley said.
Walmart denies Dudley鈥檚 allegations and plans 鈥渢o defend the company in court,鈥� said Pope, Walmart鈥檚 spokesperson.
Federal OSHA has 鈥渘o consistent means鈥� to determine if violations reported by state plans are COVID-related, a U.S. Department of Labor spokesperson, who would not be quoted by name, told the Howard Center.
As a result, there is no detailed national picture of how well the agency is protecting workers during the pandemic.
OSHA鈥檚 inaction has shifted some enforcement responsibilities onto local health departments, many of which are already overwhelmed.
鈥淚t just became the theater of the absurd,鈥欌�� said Shaun McAuliffe, director of the Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Board of Health. 鈥淭hey were just dumping onto the local health directors. We didn鈥檛 have the time... We didn鈥檛 have the training.鈥欌��
The Department of Labor spokesperson said OSHA investigates every complaint, but has modified its approach to allow 鈥渞emote inspections and informal methods of enforcement鈥� during the pandemic.
A February report from the Department of Labor鈥檚 Office of Inspector General compared OSHA results from 2019 to 2020, finding 鈥淥SHA received 15% more complaints in 2020, but performed 50% fewer inspections.鈥欌��
In lieu of on-site workplace inspections, 鈥淥SHA calls the employer, describes the alleged hazard(s), and then follows up with a fax, email, or letter,鈥� the report said.
Lani Eklund said her mother, Yok Yen Lee, was scared of contracting the virus. Lee, a 69-year-old Chinese immigrant, was a greeter outside the Quincy, Massachusetts, Walmart store, state workers鈥� compensation records show.
During the second week of April 2020, Lee wasn鈥檛 feeling well, Eklund said. On April 20, her daughter said Lee was found unresponsive in her apartment, then was rushed to the hospital and put on a ventilator. She died May 3.
OSHA records from May 7 show at least 16 other workers there also contracted COVID-19.
Walmart denied responsibility for Lee鈥檚 death and contested her family鈥檚 claim for workers鈥� compensation, according to state records. Pope said 鈥渢here isn鈥檛 a way to scientifically show that the conditions of any facility definitively led to confirmed cases.鈥欌��
Eklund said the company settled months after her mother鈥檚 death for an amount that barely exceeded her funeral costs.
Lee鈥檚 death also triggered an on-site OSHA inspection beginning May 8, 2020 at the Quincy store, which Walmart challenged, according to OSHA inspection records obtained by the Howard Center consortium.
The records show phone interviews were 鈥渋nterrupted and stopped prematurely鈥� by Walmart officials when OSHA asked questions about Lee鈥檚 death.
In response to a subpoena issued by regional OSHA investigators, Walmart cited OSHA headquarters鈥� own COVID-19 guidance in objecting to any investigation into whether coronavirus cases were work-related, the records show.
That guidance, part of an April OSHA enforcement memo, applied to private employers not involved in health care, emergency response nor corrections.It said the employers may face difficulty in determining whether employees with COVID-19 caught it at work, and so OSHA would exercise 鈥渆nforcement discretion.鈥�
On Dec. 30, 2020, OSHA closed its investigation of the Quincy Walmart. A Department of Labor spokesperson said 鈥渢he inspection identified no violations of OSHA standards鈥� and declined further comment. Records show no citation was issued.
In a February note to associates, John Furner, CEO and president of Walmart U.S., boasted about the company鈥檚 鈥渁mazing鈥欌�� increased sales.
鈥淭hank you for an incredible year!鈥� he wrote.
This story was produced by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland鈥檚 Philip Merrill College of Journalism in conjunction with investigative journalists at Boston University, the University of Arkansas and Stanford University. The Howard Center is an initiative of the Scripps Howard Foundation in honor of the late news industry executive and pioneer, Roy W. Howard.