Betrayal On The Frontline Of Private Security
Charlotte NC April 27 2020
The Webster’s Dictionary defines “Betrayal” as the act of betraying someone or something or the fact of being betrayed : a violation of a person’s trust or confidence, of a moral standard.
Carl Dawson a security officer said that he became ill in early April from the COVID-19 virus after his employer, a large contract security company in Illinois, refused to equip him and three other security officers working at a grocery store with personal protective equipment even though the company told the store manager that they would.
Dawson said that he and at least one other security officer who was working at an office building prior to the start of the pandemic, tested positive for the virus and were hospitalized for more than a week. Both have recovered but say that they are filing a lawsuit against their former employer.
Dawson said that he felt alone and betrayed when company management didn’t respond to his repeated requests for PPE and they never reached out to him while he was hospitalized.
He doesn’t even know if the company’s Workers Compensation insurance will pay his hospital bills.
Unfortunately, Dawson has not been the only security officer who has felt thrown to the wolves, alone and betrayed.
On April 11th, 143 security employees working on the frontline of the pandemic, responded to a Private Officer International survey saying that they had not been issued PPE even though they are working within feet and sometimes inches of people, sometimes brushing up against each other as they stand in lines at the register or in the aisles.
Since that survey, we have heard from 647 other contract and proprietary security officers asking for assistance with protective gear, some saying that they were quitting if none was issued by the end of the week.
Our staff, association members and social media followers have been conducting dozens of cursory reviews of grocery stores, pharmacies, government buildings, courthouses and transit centers and have found only 1 in every 10 locations had equipped employees and security officers with some form of protective gear.
Our office reached by email and telephone last week to the three largest security companies in the US. We asked for an interview or a written response to the PPE issues and the mounting illnesses and deaths of security officers from the COVID-19 virus. At this time, we have not received any replies from G4S, Allied Universal, or Securitas USA.
A manager at a regional security company based in Alabama told our office that they do provide PPE when necessary. When asked what that means, the manager repeated his answer and hung up the phone.
A visit to six US airports including Nashville, Atlanta, New Orleans, Cleveland, Houston and Kennedy found TSA screeners still not wearing sufficient and at times, no, PPE.
At least four TSA employees have died from COVID-19.
As of Sunday, April 26, over 2000 security officers have tested positive for the virus including almost 1000 TSA agents and seventy-six other private security officers have died.
Gia Aguilar is the widow of one of those who died.
“It’s been devastating,” Aguilar said. “Emotionally and financially.”
Aguilar’s husband, Lupe, was a security guard at the Walmart store at 14000 Exposition Ave. He became ill on March 5 and was diagnosed with COVID-19 shortly after being admitted to the hospital. Aguilar said she warned the store weeks ago of potential dangers.
“I had called the Walmart to let them know,” she said. “And I said, ‘You need to let all the employees know and have them tested right away.’ And I feel like the company should pay for it.”
That was more than a month ago. Last week, after three weeks on a ventilator, Lupe Aguilar, 69, passed away.
“I feel like the security team should have been wearing masks,” Aguilar said. “I feel like the employees should have been wearing masks.”
Tri-County Health has confirmed the deaths of one employee, one third-party contracted employee and a third death of the employee’s family member. There are six additional confirmed cases among employees, plus an additional three awaiting lab confirmation.
The deaths include a 72-year-old female employee; her 63-year-old husband, who did not work at the store; and 69-year-old Lupe Aguilar.
Seventeen security officers or their spouses and families have now filed civil lawsuits for breach of trust, violations of state and federal employee safety laws and for not providing PPE.
Other serious and questionable actions of security company owners and manager besides not providing proper PPE has also arisen during our investigation.
Security officers have gone without pay, some have not received lunch breaks and in some cases, they have been underpaid and shortchanged despite being promised a certain hourly wage for the dangerous work of being face to face with an unseen killer.
In Part 2 tomorrow, we’ll look into these and other issues including medical and funeral expenses, loss of employment when an officer refuses to work a particularly dangerous location and what the responsibilities of an employer is to their employees.
