State officials shuttered reopened Hobby Lobby stores in Colorado and Ohio, but employees in at least 14 states are still being told to work in defiance of coronavirus-related lockdown orders

Bethany Biron

Apr 3, 2020, 03:15 IST

State officials shuttered reopened Hobby Lobby stores in Colorado and Ohio, but employees in at least 14 states are still being told to work in defiance of coronavirus-related lockdown orders

Hobby Lobby stores are still open in at least 14 states currently under lockdown.

State officials in Colorado and Ohio issued cease-and-desist orders to Hobby Lobby on Wednesday after the craft store quietly reopened locations in defiance of coronavirus-related lockdowns.
However, Hobby Lobby stores remain open in at least 14 of the 38 states currently under stay-at-home mandates calling for the closure of nonessential businesses, as confirmed by 20 employees who spoke to Business Insider anonymously this week.
In addition to Colorado and Ohio, the employees work in the following states: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
"We are being forced to stay open with no type of protection for employees," said an employee in a county of Texas that is currently under lockdown. "We are trying to be a part of the solution for stopping the spread of this deadly virus instead of the problem."
Hobby Lobby did not respond to Business Insider's request to comment.
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After Hobby Lobby quietly reopened stores in Colorado and Ohio this week, state officials issued cease-and-desist orders on Wednesday night calling for their immediate closure.

In letters sent to the arts-and-crafts retailer, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser wrote that the company violated their respective state orders to shutter nonessential business to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"It does not appear that Hobby Lobby meets the criteria outlined in the [Ohio Department of Health] Director's order," Yost wrote in his letter. "On behalf of the Department of Health, you are ordered to immediately cease and desist operations. If you do not immediately comply with the order, the Attorney General's Office may take all appropriate measures."

Elsewhere, local police have taken matters into their own hands, such as in parts of Wisconsin and Indiana where law enforcement has started to forcibly shut down stores this week.

However, Hobby Lobby stores still remain open in at least 14 of the 38 states currently under stay-at-home mandates, as confirmed by 20 workers who spoke to Business Insider on the condition of anonymity this week for fear of retribution from their employer. These workers, whose employment statuses and identities have been confirmed, said they worry the stores have become a public health concern, and they fear contracting the virus and spreading it within their communities.

In addition to Colorado and Ohio, the employees work in the following states: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

"We are being forced to stay open with no type of protection for employees," said an employee in a county of Texas currently under a stay-at-home order. "We are trying to be a part of the solution for stopping the spread of this deadly virus instead of the problem."

Hobby Lobby did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Employees lose faith that states will intervene

Five Hobby Lobby employees told Business Insider that repeated calls to local officials and health departments are going unanswered, prompting some to start online petitions to get their stores closed. Others, like one worker in Mississippi, said they are starting to lose faith altogether that the state will protect them at all.

"Our state is doing little to curb the spread of this virus, though our governor has officially ordered a state-mandated stay-at-home order," the employee wrote in an email. "It is a little confusing as to whether or not this will affect us as Hobby Lobby is refusing to cooperate."

Workers who spoke with Business Insider expressed fear for their safety due to a lack of proper protections and inadequate sick pay. Eight employees said they are running out of cleaning solution, and one employee in North Carolina said her team was not allowed to wear gloves or masks while working because management told them "it would make customers uncomfortable."

Nearly all of the employees who were required to return to work this week said they don't feel protected by last-minute attempts to enforce social distancing, such as placing tape markers on the floor and erecting thin, flimsy "sneeze guards" at registers.

AP Photo/Ed Andrieski

Hobby Lobby laid off nearly all of its part-time employees in the past week, part of a cost-cutting plan originally outlined in a memo obtained by Business Insider last week. As a result, stores that have reopened are understaffed, rendering them incapable of adequately disinfecting stores, employees said.

Remaining full-timers are left with three options: take up to two weeks off with pay equal to 75% of their usual rate before using up remaining paid time off and vacation days; continue coming to work; or quit altogether.

Hobby Lobby leadership gives advice for speaking to the authorities

Earlier this week, Business Insider obtained a memo written by a Hobby Lobby executive that provided a list of talking points for managers to respond to local authorities inquiring about open stores. This letter came following another memo, also obtained by Business Insider, in which the company wrote it "is going to make every effort to continue working the employees."

Before her store was closed, one Ohio employee said her manager "recited almost line for line" what the "district manager coached him to say" when fielding a call from the state Department of Health asking why Hobby Lobby was open on Wednesday.

When he started to receive pressure, the employee said her manager put the official on hold and called his district manager for help.

"His exact words were, 'So I'm just supposed to stick to the script and keep hammering it in, even if it's a crock of bull?'" she said, recalling the call. "Then he laughed, returned to his original call, and recited the same lines again."

One employee in Arkansas said at least five team members at his location have been tested for the coronavirus after exhibiting symptoms. All of them, including him, were asked by management to return to work before receiving their results.

"I have been sick and then got pneumonia," the Arkansas employee said. "Let me tell you, I will be wearing a mask and gloves when I am able to go back. If they do not like it, they can fire me."

Others said management is failing to enforce social distancing rules, and in some cases even mocking employees that ask for guidance, as was the case with one Ohio employee who asked for help with an unruly group of customers on Wednesday before her store was closed by Attorney General Yost.

"[The customers] repeatedly stood right next to me and when I tried to politely ask them to keep distant, they began threatening to cough and touch me," she said. "I reported it to management and they thought it was funny."