At nearly two dozen Oregon workplaces that would later suffer major COVID-19 outbreaks, state regulators got an early heads up in the form of complaints from workers or their representatives. State officials inspected just two of these factories, prisons and other potential hotspots before the virus ripped through, sickening dozens in each case.

Investigative reporter Rob Davis and business reporter Jamie Goldberg analyzed thousands of workplace complaints and found that state officials missed warning signs at many job sites across Oregon.

On this episode, Davis talked about their story, how they went about analyzing the thousands of complaints, what it says about Oregon and the nation’s handling of COVID-19 and why Oregon is sharing more information about its own failings than most of the country.

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