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,