CNN has fired three employees for coming to the office unvaccinated against COVID-19.
All employees working in its offices or in the field had been required to be fully vaccinated. CNN President Jeff Zucker said in a memo to staff on Thursday that the cable news channel has “a zero-tolerance policy on this” and fired the three staffers after finding out that they had been coming to the office unvaccinated for this past week.
“You need to be vaccinated to come to the office,” Zucker said. “And you need to be vaccinated to work in the field, with other employees, regardless of whether you enter an office or not. Period.”
Employees so far have not been required to provide evidence that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. CNN had been relying on an “honor system.”
“Thus far, we have left proof of vaccination to an honor system. While we have asked for attestation to your status via Passcard, it has not been mandatory to produce a vaccine card,” Zucker wrote.
“In the past week, we have been made aware of three employees who were coming to the office unvaccinated. All three have been terminated. Let me be clear—we have a zero-tolerance policy on this.”
Zucker added in his memo that in the future, CNN’s parent company, WarnerMedia, may roll out a formal process that would require staffers to provide proof of inoculation.
“You need to be vaccinated to work in the field, with other employees, regardless of whether you enter an office or not. Period. We expect that in the weeks ahead, showing proof of vaccination may become a formal part of the WarnerMedia Passcard process. Regardless, our expectations remain in place,” he continued.
