Tyson Foods, Inc., is requiring its team members at U.S. office locations to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 1, according to a recent press release. Exceptions to the vaccination mandate, Tyson officials have stated, will involve workers who seek medical or religious accommodations...
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Tyson Foods, Inc., is requiring its team members at U.S. office locations to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 1, according to a recent press release. Exceptions to the vaccination mandate, Tyson officials have stated, will involve workers who seek medical or religious accommodations.
**Employee backlash
As expected, some employees are enraged with this new mandate. The wife of one of Tyson’s Shelbyville employees, who wished to go by “Bridgette,” told the Times-Gazette Friday that Tyson’s efforts to get everyone vaccinated borderlines harassment.
“I am not anti-vaccine, but with the CDC [Center for Disease Control] coming out saying it’s not working, then we shouldn’t force people to get it,” she said in an email to the Times-Gazette on Friday.
She also said Tyson has been “very unclear” in their consequences for those who refuse the vaccine. The caller said Tyson changed the wording from ‘fire you’ to ‘you won’t be able to work,’ so that employees can’t be in the building and will be sent home, she said.
“But this is wrong,” said “Bridgette.” The way they are treating the people is wrong. (Her husband was unable to comment by press time.)
**Can Tyson legally do this?
According to Chris Cannon, a communications assistant from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, private employers have the latitude to set policies when and as they see fit.
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development does not have jurisdiction over the issue of employers mandating employees be vaccinated. If an employee believes they have been wrongfully terminated, they can contact the EEOC or Tennessee Human Rights Commission, Cannon advised.
**Tyson comments
Derek Burleson, public relations manager for Tyson, told the Times-Gazette Friday that the mandate has become a “condition of employment” moving forward. When asked if employees would be unable to work if they refused the vaccine, Burleson said he “could not answer to that.”
This action makes Tyson Foods the largest U.S. food company to require COVID-19 vaccinations for its entire workforce, according to the press release.
