Starbucks and Carhartt Respond Differently to SCOTUS' Unraveling of the Vaccines Mandates

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

As RedState reported last week, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a stay to Biden’s OSHA mandate affecting corporations and businesses with over 100 employees, but upheld Dementia Joe’s CMS Mandate affecting healthcare workers.

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After the SCOTUS decision, the clock was reset and is now ticking down on which corporations will ditch their company-wide vaccination mandates, and which ones will continue on with this destructive policy.

It didn’t take Starbucks long to say, Hasta la vista, bay-be! to their corporate mandate, as Fox LA reported:

Starbucks is no longer requiring its U.S. workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, reversing a policy it announced earlier this month.

In a memo sent Tuesday to employees, the Seattle coffee giant said it was responding to last week’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 6-3 vote, the court rejected the Biden administration’s plan to require vaccines or regular COVID testing at companies with more than 100 workers.

“We respect the court’s ruling and will comply,” Starbucks Chief Operating Officer John Culver wrote in the memo.

Starbucks’ reversal is among the most high-profile corporate actions in response to the Supreme Court ruling. Many other big companies, including Target, have been mum on their plans.

Target, and probably other high-profile retailers, is looking at its staffing and sales revenue, and consulting with their lawyers. Their finger is in the wind, seeing which way the gale blows.

On Jan. 3, Starbucks said it would require all employees to be vaccinated by Feb. 9 or face a weekly COVID test requirement. At the time, Culver said it was the responsibility of Starbucks’ leadership “to do whatever we can to help keep you safe and create the safest work environment possible.”

In Tuesday’s memo, Culver said the company continues to strongly encourage vaccinations and booster shots.

Starbucks required workers to reveal their vaccination status by Jan. 10. The company said Wednesday that 90% have reported and the “vast majority” are fully vaccinated. Starbucks wouldn’t say what percent of workers are not fully vaccinated.

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Starbucks saw the handwriting on the wall, despite the fact that it claims 90 percent of its 202,000 employees are fully vaccinated—and that definition keeps shifting with every new variant. The Omicron variant is still working its way through the American population, and coffee shops less prolific than Starbucks have been experiencing staff shortages, so I suspect Starbucks has also not been immune.

Starbucks looked at its bottom line and decided having working employees was better than virtue signaling and Covidian adherence.

No so, with clothing manufacturer Carhartt.

In a January 14, 2022 email written to “Carhartt Associates,” that someone leaked to conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair and others, Carhartt CEO Mark Valade reaffirmed that its corporate vaccine mandate would stay in place.

“Many of you have asked how the recent Supreme Court decision on the OSHA mandate for large employers will impact our associates so we want to provide some clarity. The ruling does not change Carhartt’s mandatory vaccination program, which went into effect on January 4th. As you know, we have extended the vaccination deadline for both RCV and Madisonville associates to February 15th. This date also remains in effect.”

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Interesting that they offered yet another extension to a certain sector of employees—almost as if they are still waiting for shoes to drop.

And mark my words, they will.

“We put workplace safety at the very top of our priority list and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling doesn’t impact that core value. We, and the medical community, continue to believe vaccines are necessary to ensure a safe working environment for every associate and even perhaps their households. While we appreciate that there may be differing views, workplace safety is an area where we and the union that represents our associates cannot compromise. An unvaccinated workforce is both a people and business risk that our company is unwilling to take.”

Shorter: Their books are juiced with government contracts that they are afraid to lose. Different bottom line than Starbucks, but a bottom line, nonetheless.

Siemens has been a shining example and litmus test on the damage and overreach of these vaccine mandates. As I have reported, employees were resisting, and lawsuits were being mounted.

Apparently, Siemens also looked at their bottom line, and decided that SCOTUS, and not Joe Biden, was the arbiter of wisdom. The Siemens engineer “Frankie” updated me with the email sent to all Siemens USA employees:

Top of the morning, Jennifer!

Well, Siemens US DI FA blinked first it appears. No vaccine mandate and no testing requirements.

Things might change but as I told my manager, they could have avoided all of the angst, turmoil and ill will had they just came out and not been asses about this back in September.

For now… We’re good.

But those poor Healthineers folks. I think that many of them have Siemens over a very big legal barrel and I hope that they stick it to them in a big way.

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The Siemens email from Mike Bokina, Vice President and Head of People & Organization, read, in part:

“Given the latest ruling, the current Siemens’ vaccine policy continues to be on hold and will not be enforced. We still encourage vaccinations and require employees to update their status in TrueNorth. Any employee who has not yet entered their vaccination status by the end of this week, Jan. 21, will be considered unvaccinated. The data collected via TrueNorth is needed to help preserve business continuity. No adverse employee actions will be taken based on vaccination status unless necessary to ensure for business continuity and/or to comply with customer requirements, in accordance with applicable law.”

I suspect that any Siemens employee who was considering getting vaccinated or boosted have now modified their plans. That TrueNorth application will hopefully go the way of WordPerfect.

As Frankie discussed in his email, Siemens Healthineers, a separate corporate entity from Siemens USA, has chosen to keep their corporate vaccine mandate, and several of its employees have already been terminated for non-compliance. However, once the lawsuits from those former and current employees start mounting and drawing blood, that story could well change.

My prediction: by Spring, the majority of corporate businesses will have lost market share, bled employees, and lost more revenue than expected. That is when they will be start saying, “Vaccination mandates? What are those?” and drop them like a hot rock.

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Stay tuned.

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