These businesses are awful and I agree with people who are disgusted by their actions but it's on the workers too. If I was at work and was told there was a tornado heading towards me I wouldn't be staying at work, whether or not my employer tells me to stay.
I was at work in an office job one day when my coworkers started talking and laughing about something awful they were smelling. I couldn't smell anything so I listened and asked a couple questions.
People described the smell differently, some said sulfur, some said rotten eggs, some couldn't describe it any more than nasty/foul. I couldn't smell anything but their descriptions sounded like a possible gas leak. I escalated it to my supervisor with my concerns and a couple minutes later management was walking around the building. I asked them for a follow up and they said they don't know what the smell is but they're walking around checking for a gas leak.
I left work immediately after that and on the way out I told my coworkers what they told me, and why I was leaving and that I think we all should be leaving. I already stayed in the building longer than I should have, and it was only about 5-10 minutes from the moment I was aware of it. When 20+ people are smelling sulfur/rotten eggs and there's no reason for that smell, it's past time to evacuate. I reported it and when I disagreed with their approach I did what I thought was best for me. I left, immediately.
In the event of a potential gas leak you don't go searching for it, you evacuate and call the fire department, gas company, etc. The next day I found out more.
None of my coworkers left. They stayed and complained all day and then for a few more days after that about how dangerous it was and how poorly management handled it. I was the only person to leave and I was told by many people that they should have followed me out.
I heard later in the day that management didn't want to evacuate because last year we had a gas leak during night shift and the supervisor who evacuated the building got chewed out for doing so. Even though a gas leak was confirmed!
They wanted to be certain there was a reason to evacuate first. When there's reason to suspect a gas leak you don't wait for it to be confirmed before you evacuate. When the fire alarm goes off you don't search for a fire before you evacuate. When you're told a tornado is headed directly towards you you don't wait until it's in your line of seat to seek shelter.
None of these people should have gone into work. Those at work before the warnings should have left as soon as they found out about it. Your employer doesn't care about your safety, they care whether or not you're working. If their employees die that's tomorrow's problem. If every person left work because a tornado was on the way what would your boss do?
Your job means nothing if you're dead, your life is always more important than your job. Your employer can replace you, you can switch jobs, you don't get a second life.
I didn't get fired for leaving early and the employee handbook says what to do in the event of a suspected gas leak, evacuate. If they fired me for doing so I would hire me a lawyer and sue them. I have very little money but I suspect I could find an employment lawyer who would settle for a piece of the settlement and I'd easily get unemployment in the mean time. This must be even easier if there's a TORNADO!
These businesses suck but who the fuck keeps working when they're given numerous warnings that a tornado is headed directly towards you? These employers should be shamed, they should be sued, they probably should even be charged with crimes, I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know if they did anything criminal here and I suspect the person who told the employees to stay and keep working is probably dead too. But your safety is your responsibility. Unless people were physically forced to stay there they're responsible for staying. The employer is fucking awful, but the employees who stayed were fucking stupid.
I don't mean to victim blame here but if you leave your safety up to your employer they're going to risk your health/life. Don't do it! It was a tornado and they had multiple warnings. Your boss can tell you to stay but they can't force you to. If you leave and seek shelter, sure you could be fired. But wouldn't you rather be alive and jobless than dead? You can't work if you're dead and your employer won't keep sending you paychecks if you aren't showing up and working.
IF YOU'RE PUT IN AN UNSAFE SITUATION AT WORK, LEAVE UNTIL IT'S SAFE.
That means if you don't have the proper PPE to do your job, leave until you have the proper PPE. If there's a tornado warning and you're told to seek shelter, leave and seek shelter! If there was an active shooter in the office and your boss told you to finish your report, would you stay? Of course not! You'd run, hide, or fight, why would you stay and keep working during other life threatening scenarios.
Tl;dr: Yes the employer here sucks. But what the fuck is wrong with all the people who stayed in the path of a tornado because their employer told them to keep working?