800 BCBS Employees Will Lose Jobs If Lee Doesn’t Sign Medical Freedom Bill

Photo Credit: BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee / Facebook

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

An email sent to Bill Lee from Representative Robin Smith remains unanswered as do the calls to Governor Lee’s office from The Tennessee Conservative.

Lee’s affinity for Corporatism may result in unemployment for those who have faithfully served Tennessee’s largest Health Insurance Company, BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS) of Tennessee.

On October 3rd, Representative Robin Smith (R-Hixson) forwarded an email from a constituent and BCBS employee adding the note:

Governor,

Please take a moment to read this email. Your signature today has meaning. Thank you. 

Robin T. Smith

Smith forwarded two emails to Lee from a constituent and BCBS employee, the last of which was originally sent on November 2nd.  The email outlines that, at this point (November 4th), it may be too late to save the jobs of BCBS employees who have not submitted to the vaccine mandate.

To: Greg Vital; Robin Smith; Jason Zachary

Subject: Re: October 27 Special Session

To all:  Thanks for all that you did to get legislation passed against the Covid-19 vaccine mandates.  I know it is on the governor’s desk to get signed, and I’m not sure he will, but BlueCross, my employer, is set to terminate more employees tomorrow (November 3rd) at 5:00 pm EST if proof of vaccination is not presented.  I am one of those employees set to be terminated unless the Governor signs the bill prior to 5:00 pm EST tomorrow.  I, and others in my situation, would appreciate any lobbying that can be done to urge the Governor to sign this legislation immediately.  I know it’s a long shot, but it’s not over til it’s over.

I am praying that the General Assembly can stop this nonsense immediately before more Tennesseans, including me, lose their jobs and livelihood.

The first email from the constituent and BCBS employee went out on October 21st, addressed to Representative Greg Vital, Senator Bo Watson (R-Hixson) and was later shared with Representatives Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) and Robin Smith:  

Mr. Vital, my name is **** and I work for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee.  

I was recently told I had to be vaccinated in order to keep my job, even though I work 100% of the time at home and do not interface at all with others in person.  Everything I do for BCBST is done through remote access, phone or video-conference.  

****NOTE FROM THE TENNESSEE CONSERVATIVE – OSHA has an exemption for 100% Remote Employees, however, it appears that BCBS is not following OSHA rules in this case.****

Due to my deeply held religious beliefs I applied for a religious exemption and BCBST replied stating there was not enough evidence to accurately render a decision whether I should be granted an exemption or not, but they would “accommodate“ me with a 30 day extension until November 3rd.  

I believe Title VII of the CRA of 1964 states that an employer should reasonably consider the exemption unless undue hardship is placed on the company in so granting.  Granting me an exemption does not place BCBST in a position of undue hardship at all, especially since BCBST sent everyone home last year when the pandemic erupted.  We never missed a beat as a company and senior management acknowledged that fact repeatedly to our employees.  

Working from home worked seamlessly last year, but now all of a sudden, 800 of our employees now have to be vaccinated or be terminated. This is wrong on so many levels.  It’s not about the safety of our employees because if it was truly that, then the vaccine mandate would have been instituted for all 6,000 BCBST employees, not just a handful of us.  

For the 5,200 (roughly) remaining BCBST employees, they are allowed to visit our campus without vaccination and walk freely as long as they wear a mask.  Not only that, vaccination is not even required for visitors to the BCBST campus.  A mask is just fine.

BCBST fired 19 people 2 weeks ago for not being vaccinated. BCBST actually lost more than that because there were many other employees who retired on October 4 (the deadline for vaccination) or quit.  I am told we lost many nurses who just simply turned in resignations.  Only 19 made the news, but in fact, the number of employee casualties was more devastating than that.  

In 2 weeks, numerous more employees will be fired when November 3rd arrives and vaccinations are not complete for those who were only given an extension (accommodation).  I am one of those employees.  

17 years I’ve given to BCBST to help provide health insurance for fellow Tennesseans will be for nothing, and for someone who is about to turn 60 in December, my job choices to sustain my family are virtually nonexistent.  We’ve been blessed and we’ve worked hard to get where we are today, but this is about to upend my family.   I’ll probably have to sell my house, and one of our cars, and downsize to a smaller house. My wife has some minor health issues so she doesn’t work. I am the only source of income for us.

Please push and fight as hard as you can on this issue. If agreement can’t be reached on October 27, could the legislature petition AG Slatery to issue an injunction against the mandatory vaccines until the legislature has had adequate time to draft law regarding this issue?  

If nothing is done before November 3rd, BCBST will make the news yet again, and it won’t be good news.  Real people are hurting over all of this nonsense.  It needs to stop and it needs to stop immediately.  We do not need to kick the can down the road on this and allow more Tennesseans to suffer just because they’re exercising their constitutional rights.  Please hear our voices and act swiftly and accordingly.

Sincerely,

****

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This morning, October 4th, 2021, The Tennessee Conservative reached out to Governor Lee’s office and asked about the status of Lee signing the Omnibus Medical Freedoms bill and whether his signing (the bill passing into law) would apply retroactively for Tennesseans who have already lost their jobs due to the vaccine mandate. 

We have not heard back from Lee’s office at the time of publication.  The Tennessee Conservative will post updates as they become available.

The omnibus bill hit Lee’s desk on Tuesday, October 2nd, and he has ten days (not counting Sundays) after a bill is presented to him to either approve or veto. If he chooses not to act on the bill, it will become law at the end of the ten days without his signature.

At last word, Lee has remained non-committal, stating that he is reviewing the legislation.

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Directory for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com