![]() ![]() "We are trying to be a part of the solution for stopping the spread of this deadly virus instead of the problem." "We are being forced to stay open with no type of protection for employees," an employee in Texas wrote in an email to Business Insider. Employees in these locations expressed fear for their safety due to a lack of proper protections and inadequate sick pay. Though reopened stores in Ohio and Colorado have been forcibly shuttered in response to cease-and-desist orders issued by state officials on Wednesday, several around the country still remain up and running. Still, that hasn't stopped Hobby Lobby from reopening stores in several of these states while arming managers with talking points for "how to respond and communicate if visited by a local authority that asks why we are open," according to a memo obtained by Business Insider this week. Though this delineation is determined by lawmakers in each state, a universally accepted list of essential businesses - as well as a guidance issued by the Department of Homeland Security - does not include craft stores. Nearly all of these employees work in regions that are currently under statewide or county-specific stay-at-home mandates calling for the closure of nonessential businesses. The staffers - who each spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution but whose identities and employment statuses have been confirmed - work in stores in Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, and Texas. The employee is one of 19 Hobby Lobby staffers across 13 states who told Business Insider they believe the crafts store has become a threat to public health and safety amid the coronavirus outbreak. "She said a job isn't worth my health or safety," the employee said. ![]() ![]() The nurse told the employee that the store - which had quietly reopened on Monday, despite Ohio's stay-at-home mandate calling for the closure of nonessential businesses, before it was shut down by the attorney general on Wednesday evening - shouldn't be open and urged her to quit. ![]() On Wednesday morning, a Hobby Lobby employee in Ohio was manning the register when a nurse approached her, tears in her eyes. ![]()
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