Wisconsin Nursing Home Believed to be First in U.S. to Fire Staff for Refusing Experimental COVID Injections
Rock Haven Nursing Home in Janesville, Wisconsin, might be the first healthcare facility in the United States to fire staff for refusing to get the experimental COVID injections. Rock County Administrator Josh Smith is reported to be the person who authorized the layoffs. Smith apparently acted independently, as other other County officials reacted with surprise. WKOW reported: "We were blindsided by the whole thing," Health Services Committee Chair Rock County Supervisor Tom Brien says of the policy at Rock Haven Nursing Home in Janesville. The Janesville Gazette reports County Administrator Josh Smith was involved in implementing the policy, telling the newspaper it was done to boost the safety of the facility's vulnerable residents. Smith Friday failed to respond to a call and email from 27 News." One Rock Haven employee spoke to The Gazette but asked to remain anonymous citing concerns of being fired for speaking publicly about the situation. The employee said about a half-dozen co-workers either took “voluntary” layoffs or quit their jobs after they decided to refuse vaccination. The employee doesn’t want to receive the vaccine and said 27 other employees at the nursing home this month had sent the county’s Health Services Committee letters explaining their concerns over the vaccination mandate. The employee said some co-workers are concerned the vaccine might have unknown, long-term side effects and said some Rock Haven workers who already have received the vaccine reported adverse reactions. “There have been individuals who have had pretty severe reactions. We have had multiple worker’s comp claims needing to be filed because of them having to go out because of what has happened after the vaccine,” the employee told The Gazette. The employee said a co-worker who went home ill with a reaction after receiving the vaccine at work wanted to get a doctor’s note that exempts them from being required to get a second dose of the vaccine. The employee said Rock Haven’s administration has refused to bend on its mandate. “We were told by our human resources directly that it was required for all staff,” the employee said. Since both the Moderna and Pfizer COVID injections are experimental and not approved by the FDA, Rock Haven faces serious legal issues should the staff that refused the inoculations decide to sue them for damages.