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Businesses United States

New York AG Opens Inquiry Into Charter Communications' Coronavirus Response After Hundreds Reportedly Catch Virus (cnbc.com) 47

New York Attorney General Letitia James opened an inquiry into Charter Communications after the telecom company continued to require some employees to report to corporate offices amid government calls for employers to allow remote work where possible. From a report: The inquiry will look into how Charter has managed its employees during the Covid-19 pandemic, a spokesperson from James' office said. More than 230 employees from Charter's Spectrum division have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic first reached the U.S., a person with knowledge of the company told The New York Times. The company has about 95,000 total employees, according to public filings compiled by FactSet. The illnesses follow a March report from TechCrunch that said Charter had continued to require employees to report to offices and call centers around the country despite government guidelines to restrict gatherings of 10 or more people. At the time, employees at some of those locations had already tested positive for the virus, according to the report.
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New York AG Opens Inquiry Into Charter Communications' Coronavirus Response After Hundreds Reportedly Catch Virus

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  • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Tuesday April 21, 2020 @01:22PM (#59973114)

    I would consider how these companies deal with these Covid-19 as a good indication of how much employees are valued.

    Do you just let them die? Do you just fire them? Do you just Furlough their jobs? That usually means the company and management doesn't give a rats ass about their employees.

    Do they at least come up with a work from home plan? Find a way to keep physical distancing in place? Give alternative jobs away from people? Then they probably do care about their employees, or at least realize that it is too expensive to rehire new employees.

    I would pay attention to how different places handle this situation, then you can see the real motives of the companies and how much they really care about people.

    • My first question, is 230 a lot? is that an especially high rate compared to the wider population? I was disappointed the article doesn't compare that to... anything that I can see. It mentions different divisions of different sizes in different places so it's not even clear what would be the appropriate comparison.
      • by Tailhook ( 98486 )

        My first question, is 230 a lot?

        It could be. In fact it could end up being measured in dollars at some point.

        I don't know what the mortality rate is at the moment. I'm not even sure it's possible to know; like everything else it's completely politicized and some sources have serious credibility issues. But lets go with the early WHO figure of 1-3% mortality.

        That's about 2 to 7 Charter employees have already been or soon will be killed by COVID-19. You can bank on the survivors coming after Charter and Rutledge in court, and if they

        • by HiThere ( 15173 )

          IIUC, current estimates put the mortality a lot lower, but those are population estimates and, I believe, include children under 10...who generally have milder cases. OTOH, they also include retirees, who more frequently have more serious cases.

          One big question at the moment, which is so far being ignored, is what happens afterwards. COVID is known to damage many organs it infects, and one of the organs it infects are the testes. How many people are going to recover and end up sterile? This cannot be an

        • by sjames ( 1099 )

          ...and if they can make the case that these employees could plausibly have survived but for the arbitrary decisions of their CEO they'll likely have a big payday.

          I sincerely hope so. It's the only language they understand.

      • by sjames ( 1099 )

        Per capita, it's worse than New York City. So yes, it's a lot.

        • by sjames ( 1099 )

          Correction: Not that bad, I found some screwy figures.

          Nevertheless, It will no doubt be more than if their policies on work from home weren't prehistoric.

          Someone there needs to dust the CEO, then wake him and let him know he got them in trouble.

      • No, infection rates are 13 per 1000 in new york. Rates of spectrum infection ... 2.5ish per thousand.

    • by lgw ( 121541 )

      I would consider how these companies deal with these Covid-19 as a good indication of how much employees are valued.

      So you're saying Charter is fine, then? About 1 in 400 Americans have tested positive for CV19. About 1 in 400 Charter employees have tested positive for CV19. Seems they did OK by your measure.

      Or are you talking about putting on a show of caring instead of actual results? I guess even in real life-and-death situations, some people care more about image than consequences.

      • by epine ( 68316 )

        About 1 in 400 Americans have tested positive for CV19. About 1 in 400 Charter employees have tested positive for CV19.

        STDs in Adolescents and Young Adults [cdc.gov]

        Incidence and prevalence estimates suggest that young people aged 15–24 years acquire half of all new STDs and that one in four sexually active adolescent females has an STD, such as chlamydia or human papillomavirus.

        While this is taking place, Liberty University decides to forcibly remove the love-sock dispenser from the dormitory bathrooms, and s

    • by Required Snark ( 1702878 ) on Tuesday April 21, 2020 @05:15PM (#59973830)
      "Let them die?"

      Yes, then confiscate their corpses and sell the remains for COVID-19 medical research. Employees only exist to make profit for their employers/owners. If they can't fulfill their employment obligations corporations should have the right to seize all their assets including their mortal remains. Anything less would insult the Official State Religion of Profit Above All.

      I hope that clears things up for you.

  • Communication firm that works with 5G gets the virus wirelessly.
    It must be true, I saw it on the internets.

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