Walmart 'Ignored' Coronavirus Outbreak, 2 Employees Died: Lawsuit

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — A lawsuit filed on behalf of the family of a Walmart employee who died of coronavirus alleges that management ignored an outbreak at the Evergreen Park store even though several employees were showing symptoms of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. The complaint is said to be the first known wrongful death suit related to coronavirus filed in Illinois.

Wando Evans, 51, was a 15-year employee at the Walmart Supercenter, 2500 W. 95th St., working as an overnight stock and maintenance associate. Two days earlier, Evans was sent home by store management after complaining of flu-like symptoms. Evans was found dead in his Chicago home on March 25. The Cook County Medical Examiner attributed the cause of Evans' death to COVID-19, complicated by underlying conditions.

According to the complaint, several other employees at the Evergreen Park store exhibited signs and symptoms of coronavirus two weeks before Evans and fellow Walmart employee, 48-year-old Phillip Thomas, died on March 29. Evans was showing symptoms two weeks before his and Thomas' deaths.

Thomas, who had diabetes, had worked at the store nine years.

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Lincolnwood attorney Tony S. Kalogerakos claims that Evans, Thomas and other employees contracted the virus while working at the Evergreen Park store.

“The [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] has designated Walmart stores as 'high volume retailers,' making them responsible for additional precautions to protect employees and customers from the spread of COVID-19," Kalogerakos said in a written statement. "At a minimum, they were responsible for notifying store workers that a colleague had symptoms consistent with COVID-19, providing their employees with personal protection equipment such as masks [and] latex gloves, implementing social distancing, and send[ing] exposed employees home until cleared by medical professionals."

It was only after the news broke of the two employees dying of COVID-19 that the company took measures to clean and sterilize the Evergreen Park store, the complaint maintains. Evergreen Park Mayor James Sexton briefly yanked the store's village liquor license but reinstated it the next day after conversing with Walmart representatives on April 4.

The Evergreen Park store is now being closely monitored by the Cook County and Illinois public health departments. Kalogerakos has also requested that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) look into Walmart's actions.

"The family contacted us only after they began receiving calls from [Evans'] coworkers saying it wasn't until they learned about his death that they knew he had symptoms," Kalogerakos said. "They urged the family to take action to prevent this from happening to someone else."

Evans' family is asking for monetary damages in excess of $50,000.

Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said the company had not yet been served with the complaint:

"We are heartbroken at the passing of two associates at our Evergreen Park store and we are mourning along with their families. While neither associate had been at the store in more than a week, we took action to reinforce our cleaning and sanitizing measures, which include a deep-cleaning of key areas. Within the last week, the store passed a third-party safety and environmental compliance assessment as well as a health department inspection. As an extra precaution, we brought in an outside company to further clean and sanitize all high-touch surfaces in the store, which included the decontamination of front entrances, carts, registers and bathrooms, as well as food areas including produce and meat.

"Additionally, we have taken steps across the country to protect our associates and customers, including additional cleaning measures, installing sneeze guards at registers, placing social distancing decals on the floors and limiting the number of customers in a store at a given time. We’ll continue to take steps, such as screening associates, conducting temperature checks, and providing masks and gloves for associates that want to use them.

"We take this issue seriously and will respond with the court once we have been served with the complaint."

More on Patch:

• Illinois Coronavirus Update: 13,549 Cases; 380 Deaths
• 2 Employees At Evergreen Park Walmart Die Of Coronavirus
• After 2 Coronavirus Deaths, Evergreen Park Walmart On Watch