Dear Costco,
To whom it may concern:
It is 5/21/2021, my name is ******** and I work for the Pocatello Costco and I have been sent home three times from work after showing up on time and fully ready to work. I was suspended for 3 days without pay because of my religious beliefs. This is bullying, harassment, and persecution for my religion. Some of, but not all of the results of this miss treatment has been an extreme lack of sleep, uncontrolled crying, loss of appetite and extreme stress. I am being told that I have to wear an article of clothing on my person because of my religious beliefs. My religious beliefs dictate that I can not be vaccinated. I should not be singled out or branded for not wearing a mask while others at the same job don’t have to.
Since being put on a three day suspension, I have looked up the OSHA standards. On a November 18th update of Frequently asked questions about Covid 19 OSHA stated “Cloth face coverings are not considered personal protective equipment (PPE) and are not intended to be used when workers need PPE for protection against exposure to occupational hazards. OSHA's PPE standards do not require employers to provide them.” None of the covid-19 vaccines are FDA approved, therefore are not considered PPE. With both not being considered PPE, it means I have been discriminated against seeing as I showed up to work with the same attire as others who were allowed to work. Costco may have a legal right to make its own uniform policy as well as have a stronger guideline for safety, but every employee must be held to the same account. This has not been done here. Compelling any employee to take any current Covid-19 vaccine violates federal and state law.
First, federal law prohibits any mandate of the Covid-19 vaccines as unlicensed, emergency-use-authorization-only vaccines. Subsection bbb-3(e)(1)(A)(ii)(III) of section 360 of Title 21 of the United States Code, otherwise known as the Emergency Use Authorization section of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, demands that everyone give employees the "option to accept or refuse administration" of the Covid-19 vaccine. ( ... ) This right to refuse emergency, experimental vaccines, such as the Covid-19 vaccine, implements the internationally agreed legal requirement of Informed Consent established in the Nuremberg Code of 1947. ( http://www.cirp.org/library/ethics/nuremberg/ ). As the Nuremberg Code established, every person must "be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision" for any medical experimental drug, as the Covid-19 vaccine currently is. The Nuremberg Code prohibited even the military from requiring such experimental vaccines. (Doe #1 v. Rumsfeld, 297 F.Supp.2d 119 (D.D.C. 2003).
Secondly, demanding employees divulge their personal medical information invades their protected right to privacy, and discriminates against them based on their perceived medical status, in contravention of the Americans with Disabilities Act. (42 USC §12112(a).)
Costco has informed me that it is following CDC guidelines, but those are “guidelines” and not required or mandatory by any law. Telling me that I have to wear a mask because of my religious choice of not getting vaccination is coercion. Proof that the masks are punishment is obvious by the fact that those employees that have been “vaccinated” are happy, relieved and openly discuss how glad they are to be mask free. Telling me that I will be sent home for not wearing a mask is an act of coercion. I believe what Costco is doing to me and others is against the law, unethical and religious persecution. Sincerely,
Did they give you any documents stating you were being dismissed for failure to wear the mask?
Nope, they said insubordination. I showed up to work on time ready to work in osha approved apparel and told them that.
I figured that....but you laid it out in your letter. There is an organization taking lawsuits on cases such as yours...I would immediately file for unemployment (create a paper trail)...I'll see if I can look up the legal help...I have it saved. I would pursue this legally (I think their work is mostly if not all pro bono)...Be the change! Proud of your courage fren! God will guide you and provide you your way forward...many here will help.
I'll start looking and post back when I find it..
Blessings!
Thanks, I tried to do unemployment immediately, I have to wait till they are open tomorrow though.
Can't file online?
America's Frontline Doctors have a group of lawyers working with them, Also ICAN. Start there.
I emailed them already, but thank you. They sent me a bunch of resources. Great people.
I wish you the greatest of luck. Please keep us up to date on what is happening because "Where We Go One, We Go All." Not just words. We all care. Really.
You might want to look into the legal definition of "insubordination" as it relates to employment. If a company give you an order that is illegal- such as requiring an experimental medical procedure to be performed, or reveal private medical info about yourself, then I believe that nullifies their cause for firing you. That may come in handy if you file for unemployment payments.
The unemployment office will tell you that you are not eligible for payments because being fired for insubordination disqualifies you. Do NOT agree that you were being insubordinate. State that you followed all legal rules of the company, and that you are contesting their reason for firing you. They discriminated against you by demanding that you publicly reveal your medial status (wear the mask if you are not vaxxed), which you also refused because medical information is confidential, and it is illegal for an employer demand that you make confidential medical info public.
After you do that, you put the ball in their court to try prove that you were being "insubordinate" by refusing an illegal order from your employer. Then the bureaucracy has to stick it's neck out and make an official ruling on your termination, in writing, which will likely help your cause in the future. Good luck!
I already know that one. I in no way was insubordinate. Costco changed there policy that went against my religion. They didn't make a reasonable accommodation or even try to. All there is to it.
Yup. I am rather surprised that unions have not yet been calling for strikes across the nation. That little factoid alone suggests that the whole covid response is a tightly controlled, and organized agenda by the democrat party. After all, what are the odds that all of the unions (mostly democrat led) in the country have not fought back against these anti-worker mandates, and employer tyranny?