State backs NIKE vaccine mandate for home workers, denies aid

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

The State of Oregon just ruled that people who work from home and are fired (for not taking a vaccine mandated by their employer) are not eligible for jobless benefits.

The Oregonian reports,

“The Oregon Employment Department says workers who don’t comply with their employers’ vaccine mandates aren’t eligible for jobless aid, even if they work remotely.The department denied unemployment benefits this month to Nike software engineer Alex Burkoff, 41, who lost his job in January because he refused to document his vaccination status. Burkoff is appealing the state’s decision, arguing that Nike’s vaccine mandate isn’t reasonable because there’s no chance that employees like him who don’t come to the office could expose colleagues to COVID-19.“They’re saying they don’t make a distinction between remote and office workers,” Burkoff said. “How does it make any sense?”To Burkoff, the case represents an important test of how Oregon is interpreting vaccine mandates and the limits of corporate and governmental authority. If corporate vaccine requirements are intended to protect against COVID-19 in the workplace, he asks why the mandates apply to people who don’t go into the office.”   (read more here)

Nike rival Addidas has dropped their mandate.

In similar news, another NIKE employee made headlines for refusing to show his vaccination status to NIKE’s third party vendor collection service. NIKE marketing manager Dex Briggs, 53, was fired from his job as a marketing manager and told the New York Post, “I have my vaccination card. I’m quite willing to show you that. But I’m not willing to give my personal information to this (outside) company, and any other company they want to share it with, without even telling me who they are,” Briggs told the outlet of his decision.  Briggs argued he didn’t trust a third-party company with his personal information because he and his wife had previously been victims of identity theft.”

This vaccine-or-be-fired mandate by private companies like NIKE follows on top of Oregon being one of the only places in America that forced health care workers to be fired for not being vaccinated with no exceptions or flexible options like other states.  Other states either allowed weekly testing or no requirement at all.

This makes Oregon one of the most restrictive places in America when it comes to vaccination.

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