A man is being charged for allegedly lying to his employer that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Santwon Antonio Davis, 34, of Georgia, is facing charges of defrauding his employer, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Atlanta.
Davis told his employer that he had tested positive for the virus and the employer had to shut down its plant so as to sanitize. The employer had to also put several other employees on paid leave as they were also quarantined. Due to these, the firm incurred losses amounting to over$100,000.
Davis appeared in court on Thursday and received bond. The company that Davis works for, an unnamed Fortune 500 company, has a branch in the Atlanta area, where Davis works.
The company had informed employees on how they would be compensated should they be tested and they are found to have the coronavirus. Davis on March 21st called in and informed his employer that he might have been exposed through his mother, who had allegedly tested positive.
The company then took the necessary measures to sanitize the office and put employees who had interacted with Davis on paid leave so that they could be quarantined. After going through the medical results that had been sent to them by Davis, the company noticed discrepancies and notified the authorities.
Due to what Davis told his employer, the company had to close its plant on March 23 so as to do cleaning and sanitization. It also paid salaries of at least four employees who had to be quarantined as they had closely interacted with Davis. The lawsuit against Davis is meant to, “put a stop to criminals preying on Georgia companies and the public with Coronavirus-related fraud schemes,” according to the statement from the company’s agent.
