# Masks prohibited at work? BS or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [October 30, 2020, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258 "2020-10-30T01:23:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/1 "2020-10-30T01:23:37Z")
So my sister makes the comment that her daughter - in OR - works for an employer who has forbidden his employees to wear masks at work. Before I look into this, whaddya say - BS or not? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/2 "2020-10-30T01:28:38Z")
if a Florida sheriff can do it, why not your niece’s employer? > **[Coronavirus: Florida sheriff bans deputies from wearing masks](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53770604)** > > The order also requires visitors to the sheriff's office to have their face uncovered. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/3 "2020-10-30T01:30:14Z")
I wouldn’t be surprised. Much of Oregon is very red. This is in Texas from August: > **[Their Conservative Boss Said “Take Off Your Mask Or You Can Go Home.” Now...](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/boss-wont-allow-masks-office-coronavirus)** > > Five employees at a Texas real estate company told us what it’s like working for a right-wing conspiracy theorist boss who lashes out if they try to wear masks. ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/4 "2020-10-30T02:41:33Z")
By this logic marijuana is legal in all 50 states. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/5 "2020-10-30T02:46:34Z")
[Masks are required on Oregon by state mandate.](https://govstatus.egov.com/or-oha-face-coverings) She should contact the state and file a complaint against her employer. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/6 "2020-10-30T03:03:09Z")
Oregon OSHA has an online web form to complete for workplace violations. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/7 "2020-10-30T13:11:04Z")
Thx, all. I’ll ask a few more questions to see if this is a real thing, or whether my sister may have misheard/mis-spoken. The niece is in the all-to-common situation where she works for a small employer, in which she gets benefits for herself and her spouse. Not sure how much risk is involved to encourage her to rock the boat how much. And yeah, when the fires were raging in her part of OR, she claimed a distressing number of locals were questioning evac orders and suggesting the firefighters were government agents with some nefarious purpose… 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/8 "2020-10-30T13:29:28Z")
I would think if there’s a mask mandate of some kind in place, a call to the state or county’s AG office might get some traction. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/9 "2020-10-31T02:27:47Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Much of Oregon is very red. only geographically ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/10 "2020-10-31T18:38:36Z")
What do you mean? In 2016, Trump got 39% of the popular vote in Oregon. I mean “much” is pretty vague, 39% is a sizeable chunk of the population. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/11 "2020-10-31T18:46:41Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > > [@needscoffee](#): > > > > Much of Oregon is very red. > > only geographically   > **[File:Oregon Senate map.png](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oregon_Senate_map.png)** > > Original file (2,400 × 1,754 pixels, file size: 298 KB, MIME type: image/png) > > Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. > You cannot overwrite this file. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/12 "2020-10-31T19:25:01Z")
Those 22 counties account for about a quarter of the state’s population. Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington and Marion, together add up to twice as many people as that huge empty(-ish) swath of red. Which is kind of a problem. Some of those eastside counties were floating a plan to secede into Idaho because of the blue-county boot on the neck to their hick sensibilities. There has to be a way that states can structure their laws and regulations to balance the needs and comforts of hillfolk and valleyfolk without one group feeling more oppressed than the other. Which is the case in many or most states. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/13 "2020-10-31T19:32:19Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Those 22 counties account for about a quarter of the state’s population. Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington and Marion, together add up to twice as many people as that huge empty(-ish) swath of red. Right. But the odds of her living in a red area, considering the OP, is pretty high. Same as in Washington. Outside of the big population region of the Seattle/Bellevue area, there’s an awful lot of red. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/14 "2020-10-31T19:37:25Z")
How many employees? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/15 "2020-10-31T20:00:29Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Right. But the odds of her living in a red area, considering the OP, is pretty high. Same as in Washington. Outside of the big population region of the Seattle/Bellevue area, there’s an awful lot of red. Still, a winner-take-all district/county painted solid red or solid blue obscures the fact the there are many people of “the opposite color” in most of those areas. The binary blue-or-red scheme created by this two party dominance is an immense problem. When I lived in Oregon, we had a Republican Governor who was so awesome that Portland named their waterfront park after him and a Portland mayor who identified as a Democrat (the position was treated as non-partisan) who was such a PoS that he lost to a bearded canoe-poling bar owner who liked to flash himself to statuary. Oregon had two decent Republican US Senators for a very long time (Packwood was a groper but not a RWAH). That was a long time ago, though. I have not followed Oregon politics much lately, but I get the impression it has gotten less weird and more ugly. They have not elected a Republican governor in 34 years (neighboring Washington has not had a Republican governor in 36 years), such is the sad state of the “Reagan Revolution”). ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/16 "2020-10-31T20:15:36Z")
Yep. I live in progressive Seattle, home of Boeing. I know people who work in the Everett Boeing plant, not quite 15 miles north of me. It’s largely red. It’s a different world up there. That plant was where [someone was fired in June](https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-reacts-to-racist-incident-at-everett-plant/) for leaving racist materials on the desk of a Black manager. Or earlier this week, [2 men from Auburn](https://local12.com/news/nation-world/2-charged-with-hate-crime-in-brutal-beating-of-black-driver) (south suburb) beat up a Black man for existing. At least inside Seattle city limits, _most_ racists seemingly know to keep their racist bs to themselves. Although last week, my Asian daughter had racist slurs shouted at her while grocery shopping in the Chinatown district (called International District here), of all places. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masks-prohibited-at-work-bs-or-not/924258/17 "2020-10-31T20:49:47Z")
Oregon population distribution (I don’t know the year; it was posted in 2018): [https://preview.redd.it/d49cs7w070311.png?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=4daf98e9191f9814c33ba7f855c8d216c5004071](https://preview.redd.it/d49cs7w070311.png?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=4daf98e9191f9814c33ba7f855c8d216c5004071)