Hi. Not 100% sure this belongs here, but I'm swinging and hoping I hit the right mark.
I take and give calls for a desk company – less said about that probably the better, more for my safety. I'm the only person in the office who wears a mask. Only really been there two full weeks, going on week three. This lady who sits opposite my desk has been actively sick during my entire tenure. She's taken some days off to recover, but has always come back sick. Superiors advised me she “didn't have a fever” but she later admitted her fever went down. As far as I know, she was on a second batch of antibiotics. I don't mean to poke fingers, but I'm all but certain I got COVID from her. Symptoms started up this week and I got tested, results came back positive. In the span of my days off, I've gone through a superior, a supervisor, and HR, all squaring things away, none of whom have really read my messages fully. I had to inform my supervisor that no, I did not tell my superior I had COVID and did not take the past two days off – I am not scheduled for these days. I later had to inform them that I did in fact have COVID.
My last message from HR had them blatantly ignoring the notice I had from my doctor and instead choosing my word. I said my doctor strongly advised I don't come in Thursday, at the very least, but the notice recommended I stay away until I am asymptomatic for 24 hours. My word was all HR took, and informed me I would only get tomorrow off and could come back into the office on Friday.
Obviously I reiterated to them that my doctor advised I stay away until I was stable, but I'm waiting on a response. I likely won't be seeing one until the AM. I live in a right-to-work state. Is there anything I can do to defend myself/my coworkers here, or am I right screwed to either lose my job or gamble being Patient One (would be Patient Zero, but) in the office? Work from home is not an option.
This is the one desk job I've managed to find in years, and I kind of need the money so I can move out, but I'm also not looking to be That Asshole and be a giant plague vector. Part of me wants to put a notice into one of the office's public (edit: chat) boards but I think that would get me immediately fired.