Members of the public, elected officials and King County employees expressed outrage after KING 5 reported on March 11 that a longtime courthouse employee was denied her request to work remotely due to underlying health conditions that put her at risk of contracting the coronavirus.
Since the report aired, support has rolled in via Facebook messages, emails, and offers of help from a King County council member. County employees also donated their sick leave to Charlotte Taylor, age 55, who ran out of paid sick time last week.
“I saw your story on the news. Please tell me they let you work from home now? If not, I would like to donate leave directly to you, because you need to be at home,” emailed one county employee, who Taylor has never met.
“I am extremely grateful that people donated their sick leave to me. There were even people that I don’t even know," Taylor said. “It feels so much better to not be alone or feel like you’re alone.”
For 17 years, Taylor has worked in the King County Courthouse Office of Interpreter Services where she schedules court interpreters for people who don’t speak English. Taylor said 99% of her job is conducted online and over the phone. She already has a work laptop so working remotely, according to her, would be nearly seamless.
“They don’t seem to care, it’s like they have ulterior motives. It’s not a game, it’s my life. It’s such an easy fix,” Taylor said.
Taylor receives weekly chemotherapy treatment for an autoimmune disease. She also suffers from asthma. She provided her courthouse supervisors a note dated March 5, request a telecommuting accommodation.
“Charlotte Taylor has known medical conditions that put her at increased risk for COVID-19….patients at increased risk are advised to telecommute/work from home in order to protect them for potential exposure to the novel coronavirus. Please allow her to do so,” wrote the doctor from Kaiser Permanente.
Another doctor submitted a second letter to the courthouse requesting remote working on March 11.
Taylor said her superiors haven’t budged. She’s been staying at home, not working, because of her health condition and would have stopped receiving paid time off on Thursday, March 12 if not for the generosity of fellow county employees who saw the KING 5 report.
Hundreds of viewers and online readers weighed in on Facebook.
King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay offered his assistance.
“I heard your story on KING 5. Have your supervisors allowed you to work remotely yet? If this situation has not been fixed yet, I would like to weigh in and support you ASAP,” wrote Zahilay on March 12.
On March 9, King County Superior Court Senior Human Resources Consultant Kathryn Schipper denied the request for telecommuting because the scheduling position “has responsibilities (that) cannot be performed via telecommuting.”
The listed responsibilities included assisting in-person customers, printing and organizing interpreter invoices and coordinating schedules in real-time with other staff.
“Due to staffing limitations, these duties cannot be readily performed by other Office of Interpreter Services staff. Our office must remain open to the public when the court is open for regular business, requiring adequate staff to be present,” Schipper wrote.
Especially with scaled-down in-person courthouse operations, Taylor said the reasons don't make sense.
“There is absolutely no reason whatsoever (that I can’t do my job from home),” Taylor said.
The King County Courthouse Administration did not respond to a request for comment.
“I want to work. I just want to be able to do it in a safe environment, and going into work right now for me, with my compromised immune system – it’s just not (something I can do) right now,” Taylor said.