The New York state agency that deals with the developmentally disabled coerces employees to work in COVID-19-infected group homes with deception and threats of retaliation, four of the employees told the Washington Examiner.
The workers say it's not uncommon to report to work at one of the state's 7,000 group homes operated by the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, only to be sent to another where an outbreak of coronavirus has caused a staffing shortage. However, any resistance is met with a reprimand or a threat of being fired, the workers said.
''They used to call us four hours beforehand, and we figured out where they were going to send us, so we'd call in sick,'' one employee told the Examiner on the condition of anonymity. ''But now, they know we do this and wait until we show up to work, and then they tell you, 'You're going to a COVID house.' This is not what I signed up for, absolutely not. I have a baby at home and need to protect my family.''
OPWDD's spokeswoman Jennifer O'Sullivan said infected residents are either housed at a hospital or in a temporary site away from the healthy population, a statement the four agency employees disputed.
''I got sent out to a house, and they didn't tell me it was COVID, and when I got there, I saw a big sign on the door that said, 'We're COVID positive,''' said a second worker who also demanded anonymity. ''I was like, 'Are you kidding me?'
''I complained, and then every shift, they sent me to all these COVID houses. The more you complain, the more they send you there. Then, they will put you on administrative leave.''
State Sen. Anthony Palumbo, the ranking Republican on the Ethics and Internal Governance Committee and member of the Government Operations Committee, said he will demand hearings into the OPWDD.
He likened the agency to something out of a Cold War-era communist country.
''I'm absolutely going to address this right away and intend on calling the department to answer,'' he said. ''Those employees are making practically minimum wage. A lot of them make very little money, and to put them in this situation is outrageous.''
The revelation comes a week after The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times said that aides to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo rewrote reports to disguise data showing nursing home deaths last year were higher than announced.
Cuomo and his administration have been accused of blatantly disregarding guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and required nursing homes to readmit patients from hospitals while still being infectious with coronavirus, a decision opponents say resulted in thousands of deaths.
The order was issued in March 2020 and rescinded two months later.
Despite approximately 15,000 COVID-related deaths in New York nursing homes, Cuomo touted his response to the pandemic in a book: ''American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.''
Crown Publishing ''paused active support'' of the book earlier this week.
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