by Ailan Evans
A group of roughly 600 Google employees signed onto a letter opposing the tech giant’s company-wide vaccination mandate and called for its repeal.
Google first imposed a requirement in July that all of its in-person workers be vaccinated against COVID-19. The company is now asking all of its workers, including those working from home, to upload their vaccination status to the company website by Dec. 3 due to the federal contractor vaccine requirement, according to CNBC.
The authors of the letter, reported on by CNBC, argue that the mandate is too intrusive and imposes unfair burdens on those who have not taken the vaccine.
“Barring unvaccinated Googlers from the office publicly and possibly embarrassingly exposes a private choice as it would be difficult for the Googler not to reveal why they cannot return,” the authors wrote.
The authors also argued the mandate would violate individuals’ medical privacy, and be used as justification for further intrusive medical impositions.
“It normalizes medical intervention compulsion not only for Covid-19 vaccination but for future vaccines and possibly even non-vaccine interventions by extension,” the authors wrote, saying that it “justifies the principle of division and unequal treatment of Googlers based on their personal beliefs and decisions.”
The authors called for the mandate to be repealed and replaced with vaccination requirements that were more inclusive.
“The implications are chilling,” they added. “Due to its presence as an industry leader, Google’s mandate will influence companies around the world to consider these as acceptable tradeoffs.”
Google did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. A Google spokesperson told CNBC the company has no plans to change its vaccine policy.
“As we’ve stated to all our employees and the author of this document, our vaccination requirements are one of the most important ways we can keep our workforce safe and keep our services running,” the spokesperson said. “We firmly stand behind our vaccination policy.”
Google employs nearly 150,000 full-time workers.
– – –
Ailan Evans is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Google Office” by Google.
