Get vaccinated or get fired
Can the boss require you to get vaccinated or you're going to lose your job? A federal judge in Texas says, yes. Bridges v. Houston Methodist Hospital (S.D. Texas 06/12/2021) [PDF].
A hospital in Houston announced that everybody had to get vaccinated or they're going to get fired. So, a bunch of employees got up a lawsuit and they brought four claims, all of which were rejected by the judge.
First, they claimed wrongful termination. But in Texas, that means … it has to be an employee who has refused to commit an unlawful act. And that's not what was involved in this fact situation.
Second, they argued that the vaccine has not been fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration. And of course that's true. But that has no effect whatsoever on what a private employer can do in terms of requiring its employees to be vaccinated.
Third, they said there's a federal law that provides protection for humans that are involved in trials. But the judge said, well, this wasn't a trial. This was requiring people to get vaccinated — period.
Fourth, they brought up the Nuremberg Code, which was designed to get at the Nazi medical experiments during the late 30s and early 40s. And the judge, of course, found that “reprehensible.”
So in Texas at least the employer can require employees to be vaccinated or they're going to lose their jobs and find work somewhere else.