Employees at a local Lafayette restaurant are unhappy with their employer for choosing to remain open after 7 team members tested positive for coronavirus.

According to News 15, Texas Roadhouse in Lafayette had seven employees test positive for COVID-19 but the restaurant remains open to the public. Staff members who wished to remain anonymous are upset with how the situation is being handled.

Everybody was scared, a couple of servers, they went home to get tested, and I went to get tested today to see if i had it, but i didn’t.

"Shock" and "panic" were the words employees used to describe the atmosphere as they found out that so many of their co-workers were testing positive for the coronavirus. Texas Roadhouse manager Travis Doster says regardless of the high number of positive COVID test results amongst his employees he believes his restaurant is "the cleanest and safest restaurant in town."

We’ve done what’s called a fog of the restaurant last night, and that’s an overnight deep clean, and are following CDC safety guidelines and taking extra precautions. We feel like we’re the cleanest and safest restaurant in town. You know we do daily symptom checks, daily temperature checks with masks and gloves.

News 15 says Texas Roadhouse did notify other employees who were in direct contact, urging them to follow safety guidelines.

Texas Roadhouse management understands why employees may feel uncomfortable working their goal is to "be as transparent as they can."

While other restaurants in town have voluntarily closed to regroup after employees were found to test positive for COVID-19, CDC guidelines note that a business is not required to close if a staff member is found to have coronavirus.

There is also no law or mandate stating that a restaurant or public business is required to inform the public if employees do test positive. On top of that, HIPAA laws allow individuals to keep any positive results hush-hush as well. So basically, we're living in an era where people will simply "do the right thing," or not. I'm not saying TR did "the wrong thing" here but as management stated, transparency is more important now than ever—especially if your business model is built around trust.

Although it is unclear if Texas Roadhouse has made any announcement to the public (outside of their response to News 15) regarding multiple employees being infected with COVID-19 they maintain that safety is their top priority.

We’ve been on top of this, and we’ll continue to be the safety and sanitation of our employees and guests

Texas Roadhouse lists the steps they are taking to keep their restaurants "as safe as possible" when it comes to COVID-19 here on their official website.

RESTAURANTS WITH OUTDOOR SEATING IN THE AREA

More From Hot 107.9