Angela --

I am very disappointed in the tone and message of your e-mail.  I am not looking for an excused absence, but the threat of additional "necessary actions" is very disturbing to read.  Also, I feel that your statements regarding the current situation about there not being a state of emergency, government shutdown and that Metro Transit is running are red herrings.  You're correct in that Uber & Lyft are available -- though offering those as viable alternative is ludicrous.  Based on the distance & time, a one-way trip would cost over $100.  While I enjoy working for Bite Squad, I am not going to pay for that privilege.

I want to also review the current situation in the greater Twin Cities metro area:

- Gov. Mark Dayton called the Minnesota National Guard to shelter stranded motorists in southern Minnesota.  This emergency order covers Dakota county, where I live.

- St. Paul and Minneapolis declared snow emergencies, affecting street parking beginning at 9 p.m. Monday night. Suburbs like West St. Paul and Mendota Heights also declared a snow emergency.

- Vehicles are spinning out, stalling out, and crashing all over the metro, and the state reported reduced visibility and slippery roadways completely covered with snow.

- Almost all flights out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport had travel advisories with dozens reportedly canceled. The airport temporarily closed all four runways Monday afternoon, but airport officials said on Twitter that they hope to reopen one about 6:30 p.m.

- Several metro-area school districts called off Monday classes. St. Paul public schools canceled after-school and evening activities. St. Catherine University, University of St. Thomas, Concordia University and Hamline University closed Monday afternoon.

- Nearly 80 percent of Metro Transit buses have been delayed an average of 23 minutes. The Green Line train has been delayed 10-15 minutes. Routes 63, 64, and 71 are on snow detour.

- Maplewood, Roseville, South St. Paul, West St. Paul, and Rosemount canceled or postponed city meetings.

- Maplewood City Hall, South St. Paul public library, and Woodbury administrative offices closed early.

As for the traffic situation: there has been as of 4:45 PM:

- 184 crashes (13 with injury, 1 serious injury)
- 298 vehicle spin out/off road
- 30 jackknifed semis.

Many businesses have closed early and sent their employees home.  Even the notorious Comcast/Xfinity closed their call centers located in St. Paul today.  This is why I'm very upset and disappointed that you would feel the need to threaten us with extraordinary punishment for making the safe decision to not traverse in these conditions while many other businesses had greater concern for the safety of their employees.

It is my hope that Bite Squad would review this situation today, and implement workarounds to these issues.  I have mentioned several times that our jobs can be done from home.  Most of our tools are web-based, accessible from the internet.  You stated that this was against company policy, but I've reviewed the company handbook, and there is nothing there that prohibits employees from working home.  There are also no policies in the Employee Handbook regarding Weather-related issues.

I hope this feedback is useful for providing a more employee-friendly environment at Bite Squad.

Respectfully,

Nate