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Whole Foods Fires Employee Who Tracked Staff Coronavirus Numbers

“Truth be told, I knew that I’d eventually be terminated for dissent,” Katie Doan said.

Whole Foods has fired an employee who kept track of workers who had contracted the new coronavirus, Vice reports. Amazon, the parent company of Whole Foods, has faced criticism for how it has handled the coronavirus pandemic after it refused to release data on positive cases and eight warehouse workers died. Katie Doan worked for three years at an Orange County, California, Whole Foods and compiled a Google Document of COVID-19 cases by region. The official reason for her firing was “time theft”—she reportedly took a 45-minute break to deal with a panic attack. “Truth be told, I knew that I’d eventually be terminated for dissent,” she told Vice. “I think Whole Foods really needs to figure out what their priorities are and allow workers to raise concerns.” A worker who organized a Staten Island warehouse worker strike was fired in late March. Whole Foods denied Doan was fired for her criticisms or for tracking coronavirus diagnoses.