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Elmer Smith: At CHOP, no flu shot, no job. No sense?
http://www.swineflunews.org/news/wire/p ... d=15585797
RODNEY BOND never expected a gold watch or a plaque commemorating his 31 years of service to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
He expected what he always got, a day's pay for a day's work.
"This job served me well," Bond said. "I got married young, three years out of high school. I needed a job. Some may say I was complacent.
"But I've been able to raise my family. I've always been happy for what this job has done for me.
"I'm disappointed about what's happening to me. But I'm not a disgruntled employee."
As of tomorrow, he won't be an employee at all. Bond, 51, who works in environmental services keeping the hospital clean, and at least eight others are being fired for refusing to take a seasonal flu shot.
Children's Hospital, in a laudable attempt to protect its patients, has required all its employees to be inoculated for seasonal flu this year for the first time in its history.
-snip-
But at CHOP, a panel reviews the legitimacy of the claims, accepting some, rejecting others.
"Every request was given a careful evaluation," CHOP spokeswoman Peggy Flynn told me yesterday. "They had to show sincerely held religious beliefs."
How a group of medical people sets itself up as the arbiters of someone's sincerity is beyond me.
"They told some in our groups that they weren't religious enough," Bond said. "I am a herbalist. I have never had a flu shot. It goes against my belief system. That is a spiritual principle for me.
"How can my employer say it's not. Who on that board is spiritual enough to make that decision?" (Continued ...)
http://www.swineflunews.org/news/wire/p ... d=15585797
RODNEY BOND never expected a gold watch or a plaque commemorating his 31 years of service to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
He expected what he always got, a day's pay for a day's work.
"This job served me well," Bond said. "I got married young, three years out of high school. I needed a job. Some may say I was complacent.
"But I've been able to raise my family. I've always been happy for what this job has done for me.
"I'm disappointed about what's happening to me. But I'm not a disgruntled employee."
As of tomorrow, he won't be an employee at all. Bond, 51, who works in environmental services keeping the hospital clean, and at least eight others are being fired for refusing to take a seasonal flu shot.
Children's Hospital, in a laudable attempt to protect its patients, has required all its employees to be inoculated for seasonal flu this year for the first time in its history.
-snip-
But at CHOP, a panel reviews the legitimacy of the claims, accepting some, rejecting others.
"Every request was given a careful evaluation," CHOP spokeswoman Peggy Flynn told me yesterday. "They had to show sincerely held religious beliefs."
How a group of medical people sets itself up as the arbiters of someone's sincerity is beyond me.
"They told some in our groups that they weren't religious enough," Bond said. "I am a herbalist. I have never had a flu shot. It goes against my belief system. That is a spiritual principle for me.
"How can my employer say it's not. Who on that board is spiritual enough to make that decision?" (Continued ...)