Amazon-owned Whole Foods fired a worker who had been tracking COVID-19 cases across the grocery chain's stores AMZN

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Whole Foods fired a worker in California who had been documenting COVID-19 cases across the company's grocery store locations, Vice reported on Friday.

The worker said Whole Foods accused her of "time theft" after she took a break to recover from a panic attack, but she suspects she was actually fired for "dissent," according to Vice.

Whole Foods, and its parent company Amazon, have both refused to release data about how many COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in their facilities.

Both companies have also come under fire for their response to workers speaking out about working conditions, which has included tracking workers' organizing efforts and firing those involved in protests.

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Whole Foods terminated a worker this week in Orange County, California, who had been keeping a public list of COVID-19 cases confirmed at the company's grocery stores across the country, Vice reported on Friday.

The worker, Katie Doan, told Vice that Whole Foods fired her for "time theft" after she took a 45-minute break to recover from a panic attack despite having had an arrangement with managers for years to take such breaks.See the rest of the story at Business InsiderNOW WATCH: Pathologists debunk 13 coronavirus mythsSee Also:An Amazon warehouse worker said engineer Tim Bray 'didn't take it far enough' when slamming the company for firing whistleblowersTwitter fact-checked a Chinese government spokesman after he suggested the US brought COVID-19 to WuhanEventbrite CEO says the future of in-person live events is almost entirely outdoors, while independent indoor venues are going to be 'challenged'SEE ALSO: 11 local news stations praised Amazon's health and safety practices but didn't tell viewers the company had provided the content

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