New Jersey Women Who Refused Work Flu Shot To Be Fired

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Women in New Jersey who refused to take the flu shot for work are likely to be fired from their jobs this month

Three office workers from New Jersey face being fired from their jobs after refusing to take a mandatory flu shot at work. 

Alanda Watson has been ordered to either receive a flu shot, or wear a mask around her co-workers. She and two other co-workers have refused the demands of the Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey’s strict health rules, and were suspended 3 weeks ago.

All three of us got a pretty blanket email. We were told to return to work tomorrow in compliance with the policy, with documentation saying we’ve either gotten a shot or we’re wearing a mask,” Watson told New Jersey 101.5.

Nj1015.com reports:

Watson couldn’t speak for her coworkers, but she said she hasn’t gotten a shot. She said she wrote back to ask some questions about how the day would go, but they haven’t yet been answered, “So I don’t feel I can make an informed decision about a mask.”

Will she be fired? It’s the next step in her company’s disciplinary process, she has said. “But I don’t know what their plans are,” she said.

“I still firmly believe that wearing a mask in a business office is ridiculous,” Watson said at the time. And she has no intention of getting a shot: “As far as I’m concerned, my body is more important than my paycheck.”

It’s not uncommon for hospitals to require employees to get flu shots — but it’s more rare for other facilities and companies.

Lutheran Social Ministries has a number of clients, some of which are at high risk for potentially debilitating or deadly diseases such as the flu. Through various programs throughout New Jersey, it serves senior citizens, the homeless, immigrants, at-risk children and battered women.

Ruth Lewis, executive director of marketing and communications for the Lutheran Social Ministries, previously told New Jersey 101.5 that any worker might occasionally come into contact with those vulnerable populations, though she couldn’t address the trio’s specific case as a personnel matter. Watson has said she and the other two refusing flu shots are office workers who wouldn’t interact with those clients.

The company’s opt-out policy — allowing flu shot exemptions for religious, medical and other reasons — is fairly broad, Lewis said. Lewis said to the best of her knowledge, no one who asked for an exemption was denied, but all who are granted exemptions must wear masks.

According to the Centers for Disease control, over a period of 31 seasons between 1976 and 2007, estimates of flu-associated deaths in the United States range from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people.

Flu shots contain a dead form of a flu virus that cannot develop into influenza. Nasal sprays use a weakened form of the virus that medical experts say stands no statistical chance of developing into influenza.

Both trigger an immune system response that can result in some flu-like symptoms, albeit ones that are typically more short-lived than influenza itself. Because influenza viruses vary from year to year, the effectiveness of vaccines can as well.

A company is within its legal rights to fire someone over violating a policy, so long as it’s not discriminating against a protected class, an attorney told New Jersey 101.5 — though he also said he thought doing so for refusing to get a flu shot was taking things too far.

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