Roundup: Stay at Home FAQs, Bloomin’ CEO forgoes pay, Admiral Farragut makes masks

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has cleared up one big question about the statewide Stay at Home order that took effect Friday to control the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus.

Senior citizens and people with significant medical conditions are allowed to leave their homes to go to the grocery store or the drug store, to go for a walk, or to go work at an essential service.

There was some confusion when the executive order initially was released, because it said, “Senior citizens and individuals with a significant underlying medical condition … shall stay at home” without any caveats.

That was clarified in a list of frequently asked questions about the order. Click here to see the FAQs.

David Deno, CEO of Bloomin’ Brands, has agreed to forgo a big chunk of his pay due to the uncertainty and adverse business impacts of the pandemic.

David Deno

Deno amended his employment agreement with Bloomin’ to forgo all base salary except for what’s needed to cover his required contributions to employment benefits and related payroll taxes, according to a filing Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The action starts with the pay period beginning Monday and continues until further determination by the company’s board of directors.

When Deno was named CEO in April 2019, his employment contract set his annual base salary at $900,000.

Directors also agreed to forgo any cash retainer effective immediately and continuing until further notice, the filing said.

Bloomin’ (Nasdaq: BLMN), the Tampa-based restaurant owner and operator whose brands include Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, Carrabba’s Italian Grill and Fleming’s, has been hit especially hard, as restaurants nationwide face service restrictions. The company’s stock price dropped 67.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020, and it has pulled back its financial guidance for 2020.

A teacher at Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg has joined the growing number of individuals and companies making masks and face shields to supplement a stressed supply chain.

Before Admiral Farragut Academy closed, Shannon LoRusso, a Lower School STEM teacher, took home a 3D printer and the school provided her materials to make the masks, a news release said.

LoRusso found a website called www.makethemasks.com that was making 3D printed high-efficiency filtration Montana masks for hospital staff. LoRusso has also found a way to make face shields through www.budmen.com.

“This is all very experimental on whether hospitals will allow them to use it,” LoRusso said in the news release. “But we wanted to do whatever we could to help and we remain hopeful.”