Bloomington Mexican restaurant La Una Cantina announced July 16 that it will be closed for a week to sanitize after multiple employees tested positive for COVID-19.
“As we continue our efforts to comply with the CDC regulations and the local Health Department, we will also be closed for 1 week at La Una Cantina, even after the disinfecting company has accomplished their work,” the post reads. “During this time we will continue to abide by all CDC guidelines and enforce strict measures that will be beneficial for all of our establishments.”
The post does not indicate when employees received positive test results or how many employees tested positive. The announcement came two days after one of their now-former employees Britney Gamill posted on Facebook about testing positive for the virus. In the post, she claimed managing staff did not tell servers at La Una Cantina for eight days that one of the servers had tested positive for COVID-19.
“Because of managements carelessness, we’ve brought it home to our families, friends, etc. and now we’re all out of work when we have our families to provide for,” Gamill wrote in her post. “If you’ve eaten at this restaurant or know anyone who has, GO GET TESTED and QUARANTINE! I have so many emotions right now, because so many have been exposed/infected. It’s upsetting and stressful.”
Workers who were exposed to the server who tested positive continued to work because they were unaware of being exposed, Gamill said. At least eight La Una Cantina employees have tested positive for the virus according to her post, which has over one hundred likes and reactions and over 200 shares.
Another anonymous employee, who Gamill mentions in her second Facebook post about the restaurant, posted on Reddit about the situation. According to the post, La Una Cantina management was notified June 29 of the server with the positive case. Servers working July 5 were told about the positive case when they arrived at work, but all servers did not find out officially until July 7.
The anonymous employee said 10 servers were exposed to the first sick server, and all of them were allowed to work during the week after management was notified of the positive case.
Gamill and the anonymous employee both said management threatened to take away some employees’ jobs who quarantined after getting tested and did not go to work. Gamill and the Reddit poster both claimed that workers who tested positive were told to keep their results private and take down social media posts about it.
La Una Cantina’s Facebook post also said employees at their sister-companies, El Ranchero and Viva Mas, all tested negative for COVID-19.La Una Cantina is one of many Bloomington establishments with employees who have recently tested positive for COVID-19.
Mother Bear’s campus location announced one of its employees tested positive July 13, and the restaurant was closed until Monday. Soma Coffee House and Juice Bar announced July 14 on Facebook that one of its employees at the Kirkwood Avenue location had tested positive and was closed until Saturday. Malibu Grill announced in a Facebook post July 16 that one of its employees had tested positive for COVID-19 a week before.
Neither La Una Cantina nor Gamill responded to requests for comment.
