Lawsuit Accusing Publix of Failing to Protect Workers from COVID-19 Proceeds in Fla.

MIAMI — A Florida judge has refused to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Publix Super Markets Inc. by the family of a deli counter worker who died from complications related to COVID-19.

In a Feb. 5 order, Judge Carlos Lopez of the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court ordered Publix to answer the complaint within 20 days.

The family of Gerardo Gutierrez says that in the early days of the pandemic, the supermarket chain would not allow employees to wear gloves or masks in its Florida stores, even though the virus was rapidly spreading throughout the state, because it would …