This Is Wrong. – Op-Ed
UT-Battelle manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
UT-Battelle requires all their employees to submit their vaccination status as a condition of continued employment. This choice, to get vaccinated, is a private choice that should be made between an individual and their doctor. UT-Battelle did offer employees the option to submit for an exemption on medical or religious grounds; many employees chose to do this. UT-Battelle apparently approved all exemptions (religious or medical) and subsequently used these approved exemptions to identify employees that did not fit within their business decisions. These employees are being put on unpaid leave for an undefined length of time that gets reevaluated every 60-days. Not only that, but UT-Battelle has the legal right to deny employees the ability to seek another income while they are “technically” still employees on unpaid leave. It appears, UT-Battelle is trying to force out anyone they deem as undesirable and they know they have no legal grounds to do so. Afterall, how long could you support your family without an income or the ability to get a different job? 1-month or maybe 6? UT-Battelle knows employees need to support their families and will likely and eventually have to resign or get a new job which makes them look faultless as the employees have “chosen to leave”. Afterall, they can rightly claim, they didn’t “fire” their employees; they just left.
This is wrong.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic was declared (March 2020), UT-Battelle has stated masks, testing, social distancing, & work-from-home were sufficient to mitigate the risk of transmission. They are now saying the last year of masks, testing, social distancing, and work-from-home did not work and are therefore not options as accommodations for employees with approved religious exemptions. UT-Battelle further stated those with medical exemptions are covered under Americans with Disabilities (ADA) law which may allow for medical accommodations, while those with religious exemptions were covered under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and denied religious accommodations. They claim this is an undue hardship on the company. This appears to be both discriminatory and punitive.
This is wrong.
Many employees of ORNL (maintenance staff, medical staff, staff in specialized areas, etc.) were deemed necessary during the pandemic and faithfully worked on-site to support UT-Battelle by wearing masks, testing regularly, social distancing, and quarantining as needed. Some of these same “necessary” staff are now being told they are an inconvenient reality and are being put on unpaid leave with little option other than to leave on short notice.
This is wrong.
UT-Battelle further requires unpaid employees to get written approval from UT-Battelle’s Office of General Council before attaining secondary outside employment. Simply put they reserve the right to deny an employee the ability to get an income outside of UT-Battelle while on unpaid leave.
This is wrong.
UT-Battelle is also requiring unpaid employees to carry the full costs of their insurance and pension contributions while they are unpaid. This full cost is an 800% increase to the regular shared employer/ employee insurance costs. Other benefits are predominately not covered while forced into unpaid leave. This leaves many employees with little option other than to cancel their family’s insurance coverage while UT-Battelle has the luxury to “reevaluate this accommodation in 60 days”.
This is wrong.
Whether you have chosen to get vaccinated, chosen to wait and see, chosen to remain unvaccinated, or chosen to keep your medical decisions private; you have made a choice. This ability to choose what is right for you is the very bedrock that America is built on; freedom. UT-Battelle’s actions erode this bedrock by giving their employees no choice; no freedom. This is not the America I know and UT-Battelle’s actions are wrong.
