According to Oregonlive, which covers the sportswear giant’s home state of Oregon, Nike was set on Jan. 15 to begin firing employees who were not, by the current definition, vaccinated against Covid-19 and had not received a religious or medical exemption. According to the same source, Columbia Sportswear, also headquartered in Oregon, is to begin implementing an equivalent policy on Feb. 1.
Copies of a Nike termination e-mail have been circulating online. As quoted by MSN.com, it reads: “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.”
On Jan. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down much of the vaccine mandate that the administration of President Joe Biden had implemented through an agency of the Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In the court’s summary: “The mandate, which employers must enforce, applies to roughly 84 million workers, covering virtually all employers with at least 100 employees. It requires that covered workers receive a COVID-19 vaccine, and it pre-empts contrary state laws. The only exception is for workers who obtain a medical test each week at their own expense and on their own time, and also wear a mask each workday.”
The contrary ruling limits the powers of the federal agency. It does not forbid the 50 states or individual companies from implementing mandates on their own.
