With the Supreme Court striking down President Joe Biden’s attempted vaccination mandate order, private businesses employing 100 or more people will not be required to issue a vaccination mandate for their workers.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t, and in an internal email leaked to social media, workwear company Carhartt has made it clear to its employees that its vaccination mandate is still very much in place.
As a result, a conservative backlash has rained down upon a company formerly championed by the political right.
“We put workplace safety at the very top of our priority list and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling doesn’t impact that core value,” Carhartt CEO Mark Valade wrote in the email, which was aimed at employees. “We, and the medical community, continue to believe vaccines are necessary to ensure a safe working environment for every associate and even perhaps their households.”
The email also reiterated that any employees who did not comply with the vaccine mandate by the stated deadline would be terminated. “An unvaccinated workforce is both a people and business risk that our company is unwilling to take,” the email read.
The stance on inoculating its workforce against possible COVID infection was later confirmed to The Washington Post by company spokesperson Amy Hellebuyck.
“Our recent communication to employees was to reinforce that the Supreme Court ruling does not affect the mandate we put in place,” Hellebuyck said in a statement. “Carhartt fully understands and respects the varying opinions on this topic, and we are aware some of our associates do not support this policy.
However, we stand behind our decision because we believe vaccines are necessary to protect our workforce.”
Carhartt has seen pushback from some employees, who have staged demonstrations and protests against the new requirement for continued employment.
“All of us associates have worked completely through the pandemic. We’ve been loyal, we’ve been faithful, and now all of a sudden it’s like, ‘You’ve got to comply,’ ” Carhartt benefits specialist Angela Faulk told WEVV. “We love Carhartt, we love working for Carhartt, but we just feel like this decision is wrong.”
Conservative pundits leapt to the defense of Carhartt employees after the publication of the internal email on Tuesday.
“Definitely should stop buying their products if you do,” tweeted Elijah Schaffer, a host on the Blaze, a conservative network.
Likewise, right-wing author Ashley St. Clair fired off a tweet that read, “Went from ‘Buy Carhartt’ to ‘Bye Carhartt’ real quick!”
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