Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Tennessee needs to take butcher lessons from the Oak Ridge National Lab. Earlier this week Chattanooga’s long-admired insurance giant terminated what is feared to be the first wave of 19 employees for refusing to take the coronavirus vaccine, but at Oak Ridge they apparently agreed to religious/health exemptions of 140 employees … this before placing the entire group on “unpaid leave.”
Chattanooga’s Blue Cross, founded on deep Christian principles as a “necessary service” to millions of subscribers, has obviously embraced ‘fear over faith’ in terminating any “anti-vaxers” from its Chattanooga-based headquarters.
There is wide-spread speculation “another 15 or 20” Chattanoogans will also be terminated without benefits of severance pay in coming weeks as religious or medical appeals are being routinely denied.
The conservative news weekly The Epoch Times has reported that beginning this Friday (Oct.15) the ORNL employees who have not been vaccinated will be placed on “unpaid leave” despite the belief their appeals had been approved. In a story written by Epoch Times reporter Matt McGregor, it was reported a Linux systems engineer with ORNL, Leon Workman, claimed that though he was approved for a religious and medical exemption, he will join the 140 employees who will be left without a paycheck.
“It’s blatant religious discrimination,” Workman said. “A religious exemption without an accommodation is not a religious exemption.”
The Epoch Times story read, “The research laboratory is managed by the University of Tennessee-Battelle (UT-Battelle), a not-for-profit company established to operate the U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored center comprised of 5,500 staff members.
“In a Sept. 22 email Workman disclosed, ORNL’s Human Resources Director Jody Zahn told employees who had filed for…