Devon Hill faced a brutal decision.

It’s unfortunately one many grocery store workers encountered when the coronavirus became less of an abstract global pandemic and more of a direct threat. An employee at a Walmart in Enterprise, Alabama, Hill learned a few weeks ago of a co-worker’s positive test. He weighed the option of taking two unpaid weeks off to self-isolate.

“But I am paying for my college by myself,” the community college student said, capturing the stories of many who work long hours at cash registers or stocking shelves. “So, I had no choice but to stay.”

It’s the American Dream with a 2020 twist. Grocery store workers like Hill don’t necessarily have a choice between earning a paycheck and risking their health.

Hill’s sick coworker is far from alone as this pandemic haunts the nation. More than a dozen grocery store workers have died nationwide after testing positive for coronavirus, just as the general public continues to lean on their service.

Officials from a union representing 1.3 million grocery workers took the case to cable news networks in a media blitz to sound the alarm. At least 15 grocery workers are dead as of April 21, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. The Washington Post counted 41 grocery employee deaths as of April 12. Another 2,225 union members have either tested positive, are awaiting tests, have been hospitalized or are symptomatic, the UFCW reported April 21.

These workers deemed essential by state and local government take the risk for relatively small paychecks. They make an average of $11.43 an hour, according to 2018 data collected by the U.S. Department of Labor. That adds up to $23,780 a year.

Yet without formal protection requirements, it’s up to individual chains and stores to set safety standards for its workers.

At the same time, governmental branches designed to protect workers have not set enforceable standards for workplace safety. In fact, OSHA has relaxed rules that require businesses like grocery stores to report numbers of infected workers at the same time they are actively seeking more labor.

Matt Brown is a cashier/courtesy clerk at a large supermarket chain in Kentucky who feels safe at work “for the most part.” Like Hill, this college student said his job isn’t a luxury but a necessity to get by.

“I’m not too concerned about going to work,” he said, “but I can see that there could possibly be the point where I would be concerned to go to work and my concern of being at work would outweigh the need of the money.”

Brown hasn’t noticed any coworkers with symptoms, nor does he know if anyone’s been tested. Should someone working close to him get sick, he said he’d likely quit. That scenario played out at several hot spots around the country like a Whole Foods location in Washington D.C. An employee at the store told the New York Times that 16 workers had tested positive as of April 15.

There have been worker-led protests at several grocery chains in the month-plus since they’ve been exposed to the virus. Sickouts, for example, were staged at Whole Foods stores (including the one in Mountain Brook) over the lack of personal protection equipment (PPE) provided and the lack of communication when workers test positive.

“There was a sense that worker power was going to force these companies to provide something more significant than, say a thermometer in their negotiations,” said University of Alabama assistant law professor Deepa Das Acevedo “But it doesn’t seem that is playing out the way we might have anticipated and hoped.”

The UFCW union in early April sent a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asking for certain “mandatory guidance” from store owners and operators. It included expanded social distancing measures, improvements in disinfection/sanitization and mandating use of personal protective equipment.

More than a week later, PPE remains optional in most places.

That makes grocery store workers anxious.

***

An informal inspection by an AL.com reporter at Birmingham-area grocery stores revealed just how uncommon PPE was among workers.

Only a handful of the dozens of employees on the floor at local Publix, Winn Dixie and Walmart locations wore any kind of gloves or masks on April 14 -- nearly a month after the outbreak began shutting down the economy.

A week later, the scene had changed. Nearly every Winn Dixie and Publix worker at the same locations observed the week prior, now wore some form of mask. AL.com canvassed 10 grocery stores in the Birmingham metro on April 20 and nearly every store had near total participation in mask usage among employees. More than half of the customers also wore masks at outlets including Publix, Winn Dixie, Walmart, The Fresh Market, Whole Foods and Target.

Most at Publix, which has 77 Alabama locations, appeared to have the same disposable blue mask. A cashier said they were now required to don the coverings, which the Publix website verified. As of April 20, store employees are required to wear the masks “for the duration of this national emergency,” the chain’s website reads. Previously, the same site stated it would supply PPE to employees as long as supplies lasted “although not required.”

A week earlier, much different scenes were observed at the Birmingham stores.

Even those serving hot food and handling produce were doing so with bare hands and without face coverings. An elderly man -- among the most at-risk for the virus --- ferried used carts from the Publix parking lot to the corral without any form of PPE.

A discarded face mask sat in the parking lot of a Birmingham-area Publix on April 20. The chain began requiring employees to wear face coverings that morning.Photo by Michael Casagrande | mcasagrande@al.com

Each major outlet had installed plexiglass dividers between the cashier and customer but only a few who were accepting payments and handling products wore gloves.

A manager at the Winn Dixie, one of the few wearing a cloth mask on the April 14 visit, refused to comment on a reporter’s questions about providing PPE to employees. That day at Publix, an assistant manager referred any comment to the corporate office when asked why nobody was wearing protection.

Multiple phone calls and emails to the Publix and Winn Dixie corporate media relations teams seeking a response were ignored.

An April 6 letter from the CEO of the company that owns Winn Dixie addressed worker safety at the end. Anthony Hucker of Southern Grocers said they were allowing employees to wear face masks and gloves. Winn Dixie has eight Birmingham locations, seven near Mobile and a few others scatter around the state.

A half-dozen frontline Publix employees also declined interviews when contacted by AL.com.

Marisa Brown, a cashier at a Publix in Alabama until early April, said she was blown away by the gratitude customers showed the staff. Few of her coworkers wore masks when she was still working the register, before the coverings were mandated. Still, she said she had some anxious co-workers mixed in with others who took a more casual approach to the threat.

Some quit as soon as the health threat emerged. Her last day was in the second week of April.

“My parents didn’t want me to work anymore because they were getting nervous,” said the college freshman who hopes to return to work when the pandemic subsides. “I wasn’t concerned about my health but I was more concerned about anybody I could be around like my grandparents. For me, I know I’m not in the high-risk category so I wasn’t really concerned.”

A Walmart spokesperson responded to questions emailed by AL.com. The company made masks mandatory April 20 after previously providing the PPE “upon request.” A memo to employees stated the policy “evolved” after CDC reported the high number of asymptomatic carriers spreading the disease.

Brown said his employer in Kentucky provides gloves, masks and hand sanitizer to all employees. Masks were worn by 65-75 percent of the customers, he estimated. The anxiety is obvious with some shoppers nervous about standing close to anyone.

“And some people just don’t seem to care,” Brown said. “They’ll get right up in your business and breathe on you and they don’t care.”

A survey from mid-April done by the grocery store workers union found 85 percent of customers did not practice proper social distancing.

Benjamin McMichael, another UA assistant professor of law, said he “absolutely” can see a time when governments require PPE for workers. Hotspots like New York City already require masks to be worn in public.

“I don’t think we’re going to see that until we get the PPE situation under control for healthcare providers,” McMichael said. “I think we’re going to give it to them first. But once we deal with those supply issues, you’re probably going to see it from the states first. You’re probably going to see some governors acting on this.”

And so, grocery store workers have a patchwork of protection while facing a few hundred possible exposures each shift.

***

Any decision to supply protective equipment to grocery workers is voluntary by the stores in the absence of governmental regulations. The OHSA guidance on COVID-19 classifies retail workers at a “medium exposure risk.”

The only mention of PPE on its one-page guidance for retail workers is to “allow workers to wear masks.”

A memo posted April 13 on the OSHA website doesn’t give much indication for any immediate action should there be an issue at a grocery store given its risk evaluation.

Any complaints received by OSHA from workplaces not deemed “high” or “very high” risks “will not normally result in an on-site inspection,” the OSHA memo reads. A non-formal investigation is possible using phone or fax communications.

“That there isn’t enforcement and more stringent requirements coming out of OSHA, is mind boggling,” said Acevedo, the UA law professor. “This is exactly the kind of scenario that an agency like OSHA is meant to and equipped to issue legally binding requirements for employers. And we’re just not seeing that. And not only do I think that’s an abdication of responsibility towards workers but it is going to have serious practical consequences in terms of the mitigation efforts that we’re all currently engaging in.”

OSHA issued a separate memo April 10 concerning the reporting of employees who test positive for the virus.

Outside of workers in the medical, law enforcement, fire departments and correctional fields, OSHA will not enforce its own rule requiring employers to report coronavirus cases to the agency. The only exemptions require “objective evidence” transmission occurred at work and that “evidence was reasonably available” to the employer, the memo reads.

Not enforcing that rule will allow employers to focus on good hygiene practices “rather than on making difficult work-relatedness decisions in circumstances where there is community transmission,” the OSHA memo reads.

The Walmart spokesman declined to say how many of its employees have tested positive.

“Protecting the privacy of our associates is also important,” the Walmart spokesman wrote. “I will refer you to the local health department for any confirmations of COVID-19 cases, but rest assured we are taking all measures necessary to ensure the well-being of those inside our stores.”

Local health departments report only community-wide virus testing results.

Hill, the Walmart employee in Alabama, said he wore his own mask a week before the company made it a requirement. He also started to carry his own hand sanitizer after Walmart informed workers someone tested positive at his store. Anxiety crept in since HIPPA laws, protecting health information privacy, prevented the corporation from disclosing which employee was sick as jokes and rumors spread.

“They just told us to take the proper precautions,” he said.

Publix, which didn’t respond to multiple phone calls and emails, addressed on its website why it won’t disclose positive tests of its employees to its shoppers.

“Because the testing and reporting of cases by health departments varies by state,” the company’s website reads, “Publix cannot fully and accurately report cases in real time.”

With the high number of job openings these chains have available, it has become a supply and demand struggle. Workers entering the Brookwood Village Target location near Birmingham see a help-wanted sign with jobs starting at $13 an hour.

“I think the longer this goes on, particularly without forcible requirements from administrative actors like OSHA,” Acevedo said, “the easier it is going to be for employers who are fielding a lot of demand within their industries to behave in ways that are less than focused on worker safety.”

Some states, however, are taking action. Oregon has a state version of OSHA that can penalize employers $12,750 for non-willful workplace safety violations and up to $126,750 for intentional ones. As of the first week of April, more than 2,700 complaints were filed since the pandemic began over conditions at employers including grocery stores, The Oregonian reported.

So, what recourse does a grocery store worker in Alabama have?

***

A few lawsuits have started to trickle with families of dead grocery store workers making claims against the store. In Chicago, the brother of 51-year old Walmart worker Waldo Evans filed suit claiming store management failed to alert employees when several coworkers showed symptoms, NBC News reported.

The overnight stocker and maintenance worker died two days after he was sent home from work, according to NBC.

Both Acevedo and McMichael see little hope for lawsuits moving forward in today’s environment. Acevedo cites OSHA’s lack of action as a reason employer liability would shrink.

McMichael has a background in healthcare law, and he’s been studying the crisis’ impact there.

“Many states are just waiving liability completely for medical malpractice,” McMichael said. “And if they’re willing to do that, I would not be surprised at all if we get some executive orders or some state legislation changing how we’re going to deal with illnesses related to COVID-19 and your job that’s not healthcare.”

In the absence of any statutory changes, claims from front-line workers would clog the courts in the years after exiting this crisis. That would lead to class-action cases, McMichael said.

“And I don’t see states tolerating that super well,” he said.

Laws in the spirit of workers compensation could be a solution in the wake of this, McMichael said. Any of that would come long down the road as immediate health and safety concerns take precedent since we are still, relatively, in the early stages of this process.

President Donald Trump on April 20 said he’s spoken to business leaders who have expressed concern about “general liability” in the wake of the pandemic.

“We have tried to take liabilities away from these companies,” Trump said at his daily press briefing that day. “We just don’t want that.”

In the short-term, there’s a push for at least increasing pay for those workers on the front line. Walmart gave full-time hourly workers a $300 bonus and part-timers $150. Quarterly bonuses for hourly workers were also fast tracked, the company said.

Permanent pay increases went into effect April 11 for Publix employees, according to the coronavirus page on its website. Merit reviews would also be accelerated, the company stated.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on April 20 wants the federal government to chip in a lot more to front-line workers. He suggested a 50 percent hazard bonus on top of regular pay for workers classified as “essential” by the government. That includes grocery store workers.

“Thanks is nice, but recognition of their efforts and their sacrifice is also appropriate,” Cuomo said in his daily press briefing. “They are the ones who are carrying us through this crisis and this crisis is not over.”

Brown said he discusses coronavirus fears with his coworkers at his store in Kentucky. There’s a fear of infection.

“Some other people I work with said they are not comfortable with it,” Brown said. “If they didn’t need to be at work -- if they didn’t need the money to pay their rent and car payments -- they wouldn’t be there.”

And with no vaccine on the horizon, this threat figures to loom over the country in the foreseeable future. That leaves the grocery store workers making a hair over 10 bucks an hour on the front lines of a disease that’s already infected nearly 900,000 nationwide and 5,600-plus in Alabama.

How many of those include cashiers, baggers and stockers remains an estimate without regulations requiring that disclosure.

Because grocery store workers are sick and they’ve sounded the alarm as the industry pieces together a plan to keep them from dying.

Michael Casagrande is reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.