CHICAGO - Correctional officers at Cook County Jail are suing the county and Sheriff Tom Dart to be paid for spending time cleaning up after their shifts because of COVID-19.
Eleven officers at the jail filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court, asking for at least one week of compensation for “sanitation activities” since March 9 — the day Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared a state of emergency for the coronavirus, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
The officers are asking to be paid for up to 30 minutes after their shift spent sanitizing themselves and their personal protective equipment, according to the suit.
So far, one sheriff’s correctional officer and six detainees at the Cook County Jail have died of COVID-19 related illnesses