Make 'Em Fire Ya
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That’s the advice given by Peter Skurkiss this morning at American Thinker:
I have no special knowledge of employment law--a complicated web of law and regulation--but off the top of my head, it sounds like sound advice.
Skurkiss appears to have been spurred by a story out of New York. I read the Zerohedge account last night:
NY Hospital Forced To Stop Delivering Babies After Maternity Workers Resign Over Vaccine
I strongly suspect that the dirty little secret is that all the stories you and I have been reading about how hospitals are swamped with Covid patients and can’t take anyone else, that they’re turning critically ill people away just because, letting them die--thanks to the unvaxxed--it’s all propaganda. Any lack of capacity at hospitals is do to critical staffing shortages. That’s been an ongoing problem, but is now being exacerbated by firings of nurses who refuse to participate in a medical experiment.
Here’s what happened in New York--the jerk CEO fired a bunch of qualified nurses and shut down maternity services, blithely stating that they’d “now focus on recruiting nurses who are vaccinated” and then restart (this account is followed at the link by numerous Youtube videos of workers who have refused to be guinea pigs:
Lewis County Health System CEO Gerald Cayer made the announcement in a Friday press conference, according to WWNY. According to Cayer, six employees in the maternity unit resigned and another seven are 'undecided,' rendering the hospital unable to safely deliver children.
"If we can pause the service and now focus on recruiting nurses who are vaccinated, we will be able to reengage in delivering babies here in Lewis County," said Cayer.
Cayer said 165 hospital employees have yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19; that’s 27 percent of the workforce.
The other 464 workers, or 73 percent of employees, have gotten their shots, he said.
In August, the state announced all health care workers at hospitals and long-term care facilities across New York would be required to have gotten at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccination by September 27.
Cayer said the announcement prompted 30 workers to get vaccinated, while another 30 resigned. -WWNY
New York isn't the only state with healthcare workers who refuse to get vaxxed. Last month, a group of New Mexico healthcare workers protested vaccine mandates - which they say 'take away people's choice and informed consent,' and 'violate medical codes of ethics as well as fundamental human rights, the constitution, and the Nuremberg Code,' according to KFOX14.
Notice that they say these nurses “quit”--whether that’s actually true or not is perhaps not so clear. Skurkiss advises against quitting:
Stories like this are (or will be) repeated all across the country. And it will not just be hospitals that will be affected. Any company ordering vaccination faces a similar labor problem. As it is, many businesses are having trouble finding workers. Resistance to the vaccine mandates will make this worse. Parts of the economy could grind to a halt, proving that there is power in just saying "no."
If I were in a situation where my employer demanded I be vaccinated, I would not quit or resign. Instead, I would make my employer go through the effort of firing me. I'm not a lawyer, but I feel that this might provide a legal advantage down the road. And if a company purges its unvaccinated employees but exempts some who are in critical high-skill positions, this opens up more legal avenues. Also, many companies have policies on severance packages. If fired, demand your full severance. If you don't get it, threaten to sue. Whether the company honors its policy or not, demands for it add to the push-back against the mandates. Every little bit helps.
Unlike Skurkiss, I am a lawyer--which is why I’m not offering legal advice. However, what Skurkiss is saying makes sense. If you quit you will very likely forfeit most of your rights, which is always a bad idea--giving away leverage for nothing in return.
Now, this morning, TGP is reporting that at least some health care workers in KY are doing exactly that--they showed up for work after the vax deadline and refused to leave or turn in their security badges until someone told that they were fired. They refused to quit and forced the issue:
Health care workers at Kentucky’s Med Center in Bowling Green refused to comply with the vaccine mandate or turn in their resignation.
Instead, two workers showed up and refused to leave until someone told them that they are fired.
...
A healthcare worker named Ale Minnicks posted a video of herself two days after the mandate went into effect on TikTok and Facebook. Her and a coworker, who identified herself as Ashley Rich, were refusing the jab. They arrived at work and were unable to clock in — but the hospital refused to say that they were being fired.
The hospitals are "overwhelmed" because they keep "firing" people. Yet won't hand out termination letters because they know they can get sued.“The Medical Center in BG, KY was trying to quietly put over 350 out of a job without resignation or termination for not getting the vaccine,” Minnicks wrote, along with the hashtag “stop the mandate.”
As they were told to leave the building, Minnicks kept reiterating that “I did not quit and I was not fired.”
“You’re going to have to leave. We need your badge and we need you to leave,” a woman can be heard telling Minnicks.
Still, they were initially careful with their wording and did not say the women were fired.
“There was a choice, you chose not to take the vaccine,” a man, who identifies himself as head of security, is heard saying.
“So then fire us,” the women demand, asking for a termination letter in exchange for her badge.
Eventually, they are told that they have been fired and both agree to leave.
@aleminnicksPart 2. We forced their hand and they finally fired us! I urge everyone in this same situation to make them fire you! We didn’t choose this. ##stopthemandate♬ original sound – Ale Minnicks
By refusing to quit and showing up for work, the women will have more options available when it comes to potential lawsuits and unemployment.
There are currently massive staff shortages at hospitals across the country, leading the American Hospital Association to express concerns about the impending federal requirement for all healthcare staff to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Covid heroines!
But now here’s my question--just because I am a lawyer. Who pressured these medical centers into doing this? The pressure is coming from somewhere, and it has to be significant pressure. I can’t imagine any medical center terminating 350 difficult-to-impossible to replace employees without very real pressure and without first seeking legal advice. And I can’t imagine any corporate lawyer telling the CEO: Oh, yeah, just fire ‘em all--but don’t tell them they’re fired. Try to get them to quit--and you can tell from the video that the admin and security people are following a script that was given to them. The only reason for such an approach--IMO--is because the nurses are right and the medical center knows they’re on shaky legal ground at best. But they feel they have to comply with pressure from somewhere else. If you follow the communication trail--and in a lawsuit that’s the first thing that will happen--my guess is that ultimately you’ll find that the pressure is coming from the government--state, federal, or both. There may be some professional associations that show up in the communication trail, but no corporation will do this without feeling they’ve got the government at their back.
These lawsuit are coming. And sooner or later there will be lawsuits over vaccine injuries. When that happens judges will be pondering matters such as this OSHA directive--effective as of June, 2021--and related matters (lifted from a Lara Logan monologue):
Until this summer OSHA required employers to retain records of any workers who suffered serious side effects from the Covid vaccines. Then, in June:
"OSHA will not enforce [federal] recording requirements to require any employers to record worker side effects from COVID-19 vaccination."
"Teenage boys are six times more likely to suffer from heart problems from the vaccine that be hospitalized from Covid-19." The Telegraph
"If someone refuses the vaccine in the general public, then there's nothing you can do about that. You cannot force someone to take a vaccine." Fauci
The corporations and their stuffed shirts and the government are not going to be sympathetic figures to a jury.
Mark, here may be part of the answer, at least, for your question as referenced by Anne K below:
https://reason.com/volokh/2021/09/12/can-the-federal-government-require-vaccination-of-health-care-workers/
It appears the feds are requiring all Medicare and Medicaid providers to have their staffs fully vaccinated. That would be a pretty strong incentive for the hospitals and clinics to require vaccination - especially if they have known this was coming down the pike prior to the great dictator's announcement.
"Who pressured these medical centers into doing this? The pressure is coming from somewhere, and it has to be significant pressure. I can’t imagine any medical center terminating 350 difficult-to-impossible to replace employees without very real pressure and without first seeking legal advice."
The AMA is the organization pressuring the hospitals. I read this several days ago, but I can't think of where I read it.