“We are not closing, we are working,” was one of the shameless lines included in a lengthy email sent out by a CEO of a Florida-based company in Clearwater to her employees as Hurricane Ian began to plow through the state earlier this week. Postcardmania, a postcard marketing firm, downplayed the severity of the extreme weather conditions by telling staff that they were being encouraged to come to the office, even if it meant bringing their families and pets.
“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,” Joy Gendusa wrote in an email to her employees. “And when [the hurricane] turns into nothing, I don’t want it to be like, ‘Great, we all stopped producing because of the media and the maybe that it was going to be terrible.’”
Wild: Here are the CEO’s remarks on an staff call sent out with minutes from the meeting:
“Anyway, bring your pets, bring your kids… Jason can start blowing up those air mattresses… Raise your hand if you’re scared of the hurricane. It’s really not going to be that scary.” https://t.co/EAKHUFcuf5 pic.twitter.com/bnDIKJPO66
— Jonah Furman (@JonahFurman) September 27, 2022
She then went on to assert that the news coverage of hurricanes tends to make the crisis seem much worse than it actually is, adding, “There is always more hype in the media than any storm that has ever hit here,” completely oblivious that the Category 4 hurricane has already been deemed to become one of the strongest and deadliest windstorms in over 100 years. “Bring your pets if you feel teh [sic] need. I doubt in the end you will really need to. We are not closing, we are working. We’ll make it super fun for the kids!”
When the email was later shared on Twitter, it didn’t take long for people to react to the viral post, saying they were “deeply disturbed” that a CEO would encourage her staff to come to work amid a devastating and serious hurricane. The tweet gained tens of thousands of likes, with people asking others to find Gendusa’s email so that they could tell her what an awful suggestion she made by risking the lives of her staff for the sake of their jobs.
Per Vice News, a follow-up text sent to employees then read, “PCM was built to withstand Cat[egory] 5 winds. We would like to continue to service our National clients if we can. Bring your kids to work on Tues and Wed this week.”
Hurricane Ian is currently moving towards the NNW at around 13mph with max sustained winds of 100mph. TS Watches are now in effect for ALL of central Florida. Flooding rainfall with localized amounts reaching up to 10,” strong winds, and a few tornadoes will all be possible! pic.twitter.com/6zjUZf5FVp
— NWS Melbourne (@NWSMelbourne) September 26, 2022
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Postcardmania’s public relations team has since reacted to their CEO’s outrageous email, saying that she was “not correct” by telling her staff they should come to work amid the disastrous hurricane. They backtracked on Gendusa’s initial comments by rectifying her remark, explaining, “We have some employees voluntarily working remote who are safely located in non-evacuation zones. Our building is open as a shelter during the hurricane for staff, friends, children and pets. We did this during Irma as well.”