According to local outlets, Nike will reportedly start firing unvaccinated corporate employees on January 15th.
The company’s headquarters, located in Beaverton, Oregon, is one of the largest employers in the area.
Impacted workers allegedly received an email this week informing them that they will be fired on Saturday for failing to comply with the company’s mandate.
Nike will fire unvaccinated workers starting this weekend 🤯 pic.twitter.com/bfyG7cQkBr
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) January 14, 2022
https://twitter.com/Based__UK/status/1481944708821790722
Starting January 15, Nike plans to fire unvaccinated employees 😳 More here ⤵️
— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) January 13, 2022
Business Insider reported:
“You failed to complete the verification process and our records show that you do not have an approved (exemption). As a result, you are not in compliance with the Policy and your employment is scheduled to be terminated on Saturday, January 15, 2022,” the sports giant wrote in an email to staff, according to Oregon Live.
Nike did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Two impacted employees told Oregon Life that some workers had refused to be vaccinated because they objected to corporate mandates. Others did so for religious reasons, they said.
Nike introduced its vaccine mandate in October, requiring all corporate workers to be fully vaccinated in preparation for its office reopenings in January. Last month, it delayed the reopening of its corporate offices because of the rise in COVID-19 cases in the US.
“The Omicron variant is indeed highly contagious, with more data and time needed to determine what impact Omicron will have on our public health systems,” Monique Matheson, Nike’s chief human resources officer, wrote in an email to employees at the time. “Experts are predicting case levels to surge in the coming weeks, which coincides with our planned return to our workplaces.”
The decision comes on the heels of the Supreme Court striking down a federal COVID-19 jab mandate on large businesses.
However, it doesn’t appear the ruling will stop the corporation from requiring the experimental injection from their employees.
Nice Kicks noted Nike will likely move forward with their COVID-19 jab mandate:
The consensus amongst most legal scholars is that private companies like Nike are able to mandate vaccines regardless of the court ruling that is pending. And while there will likely be challenged in court between Nike and the fired employees, Nike is moving forward in terminating employees who haven’t demonstrated that they are within the company’s vaccine compliance.
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