Lake Forest Billionaires Oppose Coronavirus Shutdown Extension

LAKE FOREST, IL — One of Illinois' wealthiest residents and the Republican Party biggest donors has reportedly urged her employees to support a petition to recall the governor of Wisconsin over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Liz Uihlein, a Lake Forest resident and president of the Pleasant Prairie-based shipping supply company Uline, sent an email to employees Friday calling for the ouster of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in response to his move to extend the state's stay-at-home order until May 27, Bloomberg News reported.

Wisconsin Republican lawmakers Wednesday filed a lawsuit seeking to block the order of Gov. Evers' health secretary, arguing an "un-elected, unconfirmed cabinet secretary has laid claim to a suite of czar-like powers — unlimited in scope and indefinite in duration," according to the suit.

"I want to see America get back to work," Uihlein told Bloomberg, explaining why she opposed Evers' decision to extend the state's stay-at-home order for five additional weeks. "We love our customers, and we love our employees. We think about our employees and their families. We need a strong economy and a healthy business to support them."

Last month, Uihlein sent a mass email to Illinois lawmakers with the subject line, "The Media is Overblowing COVID-19."

"There were 1,701 cases in the U.S. of which there were 41 deaths; whereas an overwhelming number of people have been infected with and died from the flu this season," Uihlein told legislators in her March 13 message.

"At what point do we go back to our normal lives?" she asked. "This has been a huge disruption."

The United States has now seen more than 837,000 cases and 46,497 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, and experts say the coronavirus is many times deadlier and easier to spread than the seasonal flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza killed about 34,200 Americans during the 2018-19 flu season. The coronavirus has killed more than 46,000 in the last month.

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Uline is a privately held company founded in 1980 by Uihlein's husband, a descendant of the founder of Schlitz Brewing Company whose father co-founded an office supply company. The business does more than $5 billion in annual sales and employs about 6,500 people, according to Bloomberg, which estimates the family's net worth at about $4 billion. And co-founders Liz and Richard Uihlein have contributed nearly $100 million to Republican candidates and committees over the past decade, more than all but one other GOP donor.

Considered an essential business, Uline has stayed operational during Wisconsin's stay-at-home ordered aimed at limiting coronavirus transmission.

On March 19, employees got a message from the Uihlein families thanking them and noting that week the "White House called upon us twice with huge orders," the New York Times reported. That same day, employees at a call center received a note from a manager asking them not to reveal symptoms to co-workers.

"If you, or family members, are under the weather with cold/allergies — or anything aside from Covid-19," the manager said, according to the Times, "please do NOT tell your peers about the symptoms & your assumptions. By doing so, you are causing unnecessary panic in the office."

According to the company, numerous measures have been implemented to reduce the potential for COVID-19 infection. They include more deep cleaning, social distancing practices, work-from-home and a $5-per-hour pay increase for customer service and warehouse employees.

But nine current and former staff members questioned why call-center workers still need to come into work, according to Bloomberg. The company said more than 60 percent of its call-center staff was working at home as of the end of March. It also said coronavirus infections had been detected at four locations, but several staff members who contracted COVID-19 have already returned to work.

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