United May Can Unvaccinated Workers, Even With Exemptions - Court

WASHINGTON - Nov. 9, 2021 - PRLog -- A federal judge has held that United Airlines can put employees who have refused to be vaccinated on unpaid leave, even if they have medical or religious exemptions.

This, plus three recent strikes from the Supreme Court, mean that  companies seem to have a green light to use the same technique which also proved so effective in fighting the earlier health crisis caused by smoking, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

These three rulings - as well as earlier ones by lower courts and the new one in Texas - provide a green light for companies to use the same tactics which proved so effective in fighting a similar public health crisis, likewise fueled by a massive disinformation campaign, says Banzhaf, who established and then led the nonsmokers' rights movement which got millions to quit and saved hundreds of billions of dollars.

Using a stick is much more effective than a carrot in preventing unnecessary deaths and disabilities from smoking and also now also from Covid.

Actually, says Banzhaf, "stick" is a misnomer since the measures proven to be so effective in getting smokers to quit, and now getting holdouts to be vaccinated, aren't designed to punish their unhealthy conduct, but rather to prevent them from continuing to inflict the damage it causes on the majority.

It has long been known that warnings and other health messages - even when coupled with incentives such as medical assistance and financial rewards - were not very effective in getting smokers to quit; in part because they had to try to overcome a massive disinformation campaign by the tobacco industry.

In other words, making employees and patrons at public venues provide proof of vaccination, requiring those who might be permitted to remain unvaccinated to pay for their own frequent Covid tests, charging higher health and other insurance rates for unvaccinated people (and also for any unvaccinated persons on their plans), and even declining to perform some medical operations on those refusing to be vaccinated, is the most effective way to fight Covid, and to protect the majority of Americans from infection, argues Banzhaf.

Making those who refuse to be vaccinated bear the consequences of their decisions - i.e., imposing some "personal responsibility" - has proven to be a very effective weapon in saving lives, and in helping to return life (especially life in the workplace and in many public places) to a near normal, with even less need if any for the vaccinated to be burdened with mask requirements, proclaims Banzhaf.

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