Judge again blocks release of info on businesses with COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin

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    WAUKESHA COUNTY, Wis. (Wisconsin State Journal) — A Waukesha County judge has again extended a restraining order preventing the state health department from releasing information on businesses linked to COVID-19 cases.

Circuit Judge Lloyd Carter on Monday approved the request from Wisconsin business organizations, including Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, for a temporary injunction to block the release of the names of businesses with more than 25 employees where at least two workers have tested positive for COVID-19.

While an attorney for the state said the plaintiffs in the case failed to show how releasing such information would cause any harm whatsoever to businesses, Carter said the names of businesses where multiple COVID-19 cases have occurred would associate businesses with positive cases, even if they occurred elsewhere and were handled properly.

“We’re talking about many businesses here that are teetering on the brink of failure,” Carter said, adding, “we’re talking about the potential for irreparable harm to those businesses.”

Carter also denied motions for dismissal from the state and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Attorneys for both parties have 14 days to file a response to Carter’s decision.

Gov. Tony Evers and state health officials said months ago they planned to provide information on closed coronavirus investigations to news outlets in order to comply with several open records requests, but business groups like WMC said such information would have severe impacts on companies already struggling through the pandemic.

“While an employee may have contracted COVID-19 outside the workplace and properly quarantined, a business could still face financial or reputational harm if consumers falsely blame the employer due to this release,” WMC President and CEO Kurt Bauer said in a statement Monday.

Carter first issued a five-day restraining order prohibiting the release of the information in early October. He later extended the order through November.

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