Dick's Drive-Ins Workers File Complaints Over Sanitation, Safety

SEATTLE, WA — Several Dick's Drive-Ins employees have now come forward saying the company has not done enough to protect them, or their customers, from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Five employees at two Dick's locations lodged formal complaints against the company, saying management has been negligent in upholding pandemic safety and sanitation guidelines.

Their complaints — provided to Patch by Working Washington, a nonprofit worker advocacy group — paint a picture of a company dangerously unconcerned about their employee's wellbeing.

One complaint even alleges that management pushed employees to work when they may have contracted COVID-19:

"My manager has pressured my coworkers and I to come into work even though we were awaiting test results for Covid-19. And on multiple occasions during the pandemic, managers have come into work even though they were visibly sick."

Other common complaints include failures to provide adequate time and space for sanitization or enforce mask use.

"I have been instructed not to turn away maskless customers or push them to wear masks, but rather to serve customers faster to avoid prolonged contact. Managers and security also routinely fail to confront maskless customers," wrote one employee.

All five complaints mention the restaurant's cramped quarters, which don't provide enough space for safe social distancing.

"The space in the work areas is tight, and my coworkers and I have to frequently move about between workstations to do our jobs," said one. "So, we are constantly working in close quarters and bumping into one another."

The complaints also share several safety concerns unrelated to the ongoing pandemic. One complaint describes several employees slipping on wet floors and hitting their heads. Another employee says they've been burned and rushed to the emergency room "multiple times" because they were only given flimsy plastic gloves for protection, which melted under the heat of the burners.

"Dick's Drive-In has a well-established reputation as a beloved community institution and a great place to work, but conditions in these stores right now simply don't align with this history," said Working Washington. "Workers know the company can do better, but managers have consistently failed to address these issues."

All five complaints came from the Broadway and Queen Anne locations in Seattle.

In response to the news, Dick's has released a statement reading:

"We only received notice of the complaint this afternoon. We take the safety of our employees and our customers very seriously. We are currently investigating this and will share more information as soon as we can. Our rating with the King County Health Department is excellent and that includes our COVID safety protocols for employees and customers."