Workers say Disney is underreporting COVID-19 cases, clearing workers to go back too soon


Since reopening its Downtown Disney shopping complex in Anaheim, California, Disney has been underreporting the number of positive COVID-19 cases and letting employees who have been infected return to work sooner than health officials say is safe, several workers and spouses told The Daily Beast.
Disneyland and California Adventure remain closed, but Downtown Disney was allowed to reopen in early July. There are several hundred employees working there, and no on-site coronavirus testing; The Daily Beast reports that in a letter sent to the dozen unions representing employees, Disney Labor Relations Director Bill Pace said on-site coronavirus testing was "not viable" because of too many "false negatives."
Four people familiar with the matter said Disney is not being forthcoming when it comes to reporting the number of coronavirus cases among workers; unions are notified when a member tests positive, but the news typically doesn't come until several days later, leading to further exposure. During the first week Downtown Disney was back open, a gardener went home sick, and after being tested on his own, learned he had coronavirus, two people told The Daily Beast. Co-workers didn't know they were exposed until a week later, when Disney confirmed the positive results.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Alicia, a woman whose spouse works for Disney, told The Daily Beast that everything employees know about COVID-19 "has come from word of mouth," with co-workers calling or texting the latest updates. "Disney management is not really officially acknowledging that any of this is happening," she said.
The Daily Beast also learned from a member of Downtown Disney's Horticulture Irrigation team who tested positive for COVID-19 in late July that on Aug. 2, five days after receiving his test results, Disney cleared him to return to work. He had not spent two weeks in isolation or had a negative test result. The man told The Daily Beast he went back to work on Aug. 3.
The Daily Beast contacted 11 different unions, and none were able to confirm the total number of coronavirus cases among the workforce. A spokesman for UFCW Local 324 said only two cases had been reported to the union, but Disney did not share any details on how many people they might have exposed to the virus. Disney did not respond to requests for comment.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
October 19 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's editorial cartoons include Pete Hegseth and the press, an absence of government, and George Washington crossing the Delaware
-
A little-visited Indian Ocean archipelago
The Week Recommends The paradise of the Union of the Comoros features beautiful beaches, colourful coral reefs and lush forests
-
AI: is the bubble about to burst?
In the Spotlight Stock market ever-more reliant on tech stocks whose value relies on assumptions of continued growth and easy financing
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial unease
Speed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B deal
speed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance