SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) – The Salt Lake County Health Department has confirmed an employee at the downtown Cheesecake Factory restaurant has tested positive for COVID-19.
On Wednesday, ABC4 News spoke to another employee who requested anonymity because of fear of retribution from management.
The woman says her manager at the Cheesecake Factory location at City Creek Center downplayed the situation after another employee tested positive for COVID-19.
“It all connected the next day that this is someone that I work with directly,” she told ABC4 on a video call. “I was definitely exposed.”
She says that she got tested and is waiting for those results. In the meantime, she says the restaurant remains open, staffed by some people who haven’t even been told about the confirmed case.
“If he’s having us come in and not telling us we were exposed, we’re now exposing ourselves to the guests that are coming into the restaurant which isn’t a safe environment for that restaurant and those guests,” she said.
She feels compelled to speak out about the situation even though it could mean getting fired.
“I want to tell this story because it’s not a safe environment for us to be there,” she said. “For one, he didn’t tell us that we were exposed when we very much were. He kind of hid that when that’s a health risk to not only ourselves but our families because we do have families that we go home to and now knowing we are exposed, can let other people know when earlier we weren’t. We were thinking we were fine.”
The Salt Lake County Health Department has not identified any close contacts to that positive case and says there are 50 food establishments in the county with at least one confirmed case.
On Wednesday afternoon, ABC4 spoke to the restaurant’s Manager On Duty who referred us to Cheesecake Factory’s corporate offices in California. As of Wednesday evening a voicemail message had not been returned.
