A Brazilian supermarket is facing heavy criticism after it covered an employee who died during his shift with umbrellas so that the store could remain open. Manoel Moisés Cavalcante died after having a heart attack in the Carrefour supermarket in Recife on August 14 and instead of closing the store so that his body could be removed from the store, fellow workers put boxes around him and covered him with three umbrellas so he couldn’t be seen by shoppers.
CARREFOUR EMPLOYEE LIES DEAD HERE IN BRAZIL, BEER AISLE, FOR 4 HOURS WITH STORE OPEN pic.twitter.com/jamnWbpZ5A
— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) August 19, 2020
- Cavalcante was given CPR but couldn’t be saved. It’s incredibly sad that he passed away, and while it’s true that transporting him outside of the store wouldn’t have brought him back, it would have least provided him and his family with more dignity than to leave him in the middle of the supermarket behind cases of beer and sun umbrellas.
- Customers thankfully had no idea what was going on. Many just assumed employees were in the midst of setting up a new display or that perhaps the boxes were containing something that had spilled or broken. It’s probably better they didn’t know that there was a dead body under there. However, a few people did catch on.
- Photos of the scene were spread all over social media. People were angry at the way Carrefour and its employees had dealt with the situation and the way they’d treated Cavalcante, with one person writing, “An employee dies at a Carrefour in Brazil. The store just covered the body with umbrellas and boxes so they could stay open while they wait for someone to take him away. This is capitalism.” Another added, “A worker died in a Carrefour supermarket in Recife, which covered up his body to remain open. Welcome to Brazil in the year 2020.”
- Carrefour has since issued an apology. While nothing can erase the way they handled the situation, Carrefour has apologized. “The company made a mistake by not closing the store immediately after what happened, as well did not find the correct way to protect Mr Moses’ body,” they wrote. “We reinforce that as soon as the sales prooter started to feel sick, we did the first aid and we activated SAMU, following all protocols for performing relief quickly. After the death, we followed the instruction not to remove the body from the place.” They promised that in future, they would close stores if something like this happened.
An employee dies at a Carrefour in Brazil.
The store just covered the body with umbrellas and boxes so they could stay open while they wait for someone to take him away.This is capitalism. pic.twitter.com/EaX6a6etmX
— Anarchist 💣Federation ❤🖤 (@AnarchistFed) August 20, 2020
Nota Oficial do Carrefour pic.twitter.com/t4i1h0iPUq
— Carrefour Brasil (@carrefourbrasil) August 19, 2020
