UPS worker in Vermont says she was fired after expressing coronavirus protection concerns

A UPS worker in Vermont claims she was fired from her job after pressing management about the conditions of the facility, according to the Burlington Free Press.

Marge Harvey, a UPS worker of 33 years, was let go on April 10 after bringing up to management that the facility was not providing workers with any personal protective equipment or soap in the restrooms, as well as a lack of social distancing. Harvey was told she was let go for posting an image of a moose and a gas station on social media while on the job. 

“When the schools closed we knew things were getting really serious,” Harvey told the Free Press. “They weren’t telling us anything, or giving us any information. We all started asking questions.”

Harvey filed a whistleblower complaint with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration on April 20 but has not yet heard back about her complaint, according to the Free Press.

A UPS spokesman told the Free Press “we are following our protocols to address the issue.”

About a dozen UPS workers protested Harvey’s removal Wednesday, waving signs saying “Reinstate Marge Harvey Now!!!” and flyers that said “UPS Fired a COVID-19 Whistleblower. Marge Harvey had our back. We Have Hers!”

“For me, it’s a clear-cut case of retaliation,” Scott Carpenter, a former colleague of Harvey’s, told the Free Press. “She called them out on not covering the COVID-19 stuff.”