CNN President Jeff Zucker just put into practice his “zero tolerance” policy against respecting the right of network employees to choose whether they want the COVID-19 vaccine or not.
Three employees have been fired for not adhering to CNN’s vaccine mandate Zucker announced this week in a memo to employees, according to The New York Times.
“In the past week, we have been made aware of three employees who were coming to the office unvaccinated. All three have been terminated,” Zucker said in the internal memo. “Let me be clear — we have a zero-tolerance policy on this.”
He suggested that “in the weeks ahead, showing proof of vaccination may become a formal part of the WarnerMedia Passcard process” of gaining access to the network’s workplaces.
“You need to be vaccinated to come to the office. And you need to be vaccinated to work in the field, with other employees, regardless of whether you enter an office or not. Period,” Zucker further declared.
More from Jeff Zucker memo to CNN staff: pic.twitter.com/KDhh6sPpZM
— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) August 5, 2021
There was no indication of who the employees were or what level they worked at the network.
CNN has also postponed its Sept. 7 return to the office for employees. A new date has not been announced, but Zucker said sometime in October “seems reasonable at this point.”
“This was not an easy decision, and there is much to consider. The bottom line is that, based on the information that is available today, and what experts expect to evolve with the virus in the weeks ahead, September 7 no longer feels appropriate,” he said.
Currently, “a little more than a third” of CNN’s newsroom employees are working in the office, the memo noted.
CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy shared more from the memo on Twitter.
“I think it is fair to say that we are all feeling a mix of anticipation, anxiety, frustration, confusion, and exasperation … I get it,” Zucker wrote, according to Darcy.
“Continue to take care of yourselves and each other. And I will share more updates just as soon as we have them,” he added.
“I think it is fair to say that we are all feeling a mix of anticipation, anxiety, frustration, confusion, and exasperation … I get it,” Zucker says. He adds: “Continue to take care of yourselves and each other. And I will share more updates just as soon as we have them.”
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) August 5, 2021
That care didn’t extend to the three canned employees and their families, of course.
With the delta variant of COVID-19 surging, Google and Facebook have also made vaccination mandatory for workers to return to the office. Microsoft has also said it expects employees to be vaccinated when they resume working from the office.
Not only has The Washington Post implemented a vaccine requirement for employees to return to the office, but the newspaper has also made it a condition of further employment.
Amazon will require unvaccinated workers to wear masks when it reopens offices in January, which was postponed from September.
No surprise with today’s generation, but there were plenty of social media users who agreed with CNN. At the same time, there were plenty who didn’t.
Here’s a sampling of some of those responses from Twitter:
Zero tolerance on whether someone chooses to inject something into their body but 100% tolerance if a “journalist” advises a Governor and writes press releases for him.
Cuz JOURNALISM!!!— Chris (@CML_Texas) August 5, 2021
Zero tolerance on vaccines. But masterbation in front of your co workers gets you a vacation.
— Max Rea (@Max_Rea) August 6, 2021
Taking care of each other while putting them on the curb, not able to provide for their families…. right.
— xNat (@x_equilibrium) August 6, 2021
There should be lawsuits to follow. Not a justified reason for termination.
— David K (@davethegr8one) August 5, 2021
These must have been expendable “lower-level” employees. Otherwise, they would surely have been given a warning to get vaccinated “or else…”
— Roland Kausen (@RolandKausen) August 5, 2021
Interesting that their zero-tolerance policy doesn’t extend to the staff who leave their house while they have the virus 🤔
— Rex (@RexFeatures) August 5, 2021
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