Postcardmania CEO Asks Florida Employees To Work In Evacuation Zones During Hurricane Ian

Prior to what is now being called one of the largest hurricanes to U.S. history, the CEO of marketing agency Postcardmania sent messages out to employees to insist that its offices located in Clearwater, Florida would remain open.

Clearwater was one of many places that was under under evacuation orders.

In a Zoom meeting, CEO Joy Gendusa downplayed the storm’s severity while maintaining that the weather event would not slow down production. Gendusa insisted that since she has lived in the state, each hurricane has been a “nothing burger.”

The CEO told employees to also bring their children and pets to offices with them, though the subject that kept coming up during the Zoom call was the possibility of Hurricane Ian being nothing more than “super windy.”

“Obviously you feeling safe and comfortable is of the utmost importance, but I honestly want to continue to deliver and I want to have a good end of quarter,” Gendusa is quoted as saying during the staff meeting.

Employees also received text messages claiming that “PCM was built to withstand Cat 5 Winds. We would like to continue to service our National clients if we can” with the rest of the message confirming that offices would be open that Tuesday and Wednesday.

Gendusa added to the texts much of what she said during the Zoom call, reiterating that “there is always more hype in the media than any storm that has ever hit here.”

She was then proven wrong by the devastating damage caused by Hurricane Ian and high casualty numbers.

Gendusa apologized in another set of text messages to employees after the controversy, “We never intended to make people feel like they had to come in to work when they need to evacuate or take other hurricane precautions.”

Companies have often been criticized for ignoring the health and safety of workers during a ferocious weather events. It was only last year when the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union slammed Amazon for forcing people to work through a tornado warning.

Latest death toll in Florida is at 56 and officials expect the number to continue to climb.