CNN Fires Employee Who Came to Work Without Vaccination

(Photo by Bloomberg)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 5th (local time) that the US CNN network fired employees who came to work without receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the report, Jeff Zucker, CEO of CNN, announced in an email sent to employees that three employees who came to the office without being vaccinated were fired. He stated, "The reason for dismissal was violation of company policy."

He emphasized, "I want to make it clear that we have a zero-tolerance policy regarding vaccination," and added, "If you want to come to the office, get vaccinated."

He also added, "Field workers who do not come to the office but have contact with other employees must also be vaccinated."

CNN currently requires all employees and outsiders entering the building to be vaccinated and to present proof of vaccination.

In response to the spread of the Delta variant, CNN is also considering postponing the office return date from next month’s 7th to mid-October.

CEO Zucker stated, "Considering the uncertainty of the virus spread situation, it is difficult to specify the date for resuming office attendance yet, but we will notify at least 30 days in advance."

On the same day, Amazon also postponed its originally scheduled office return date of next month’s 7th to the first week of January next year. Other big tech companies had already delayed office returns or implemented mandatory vaccination policies ahead of Amazon.

Microsoft, Google, and Apple postponed their office return plans to October, and major US companies such as Wells Fargo, a large bank, and Uber, a ride-hailing service provider, are also pushing back their office return dates one after another.