Oregon Denies Unemployment Benefits to folks who refuse the Vax

The state of Oregon will deny unemployment benefits to those Oregonians who lose their jobs because they refuse to be vaccinated.

The Oregon Department of Employment made that announcement this week, reports the Oregonian.  Rising Covid infection rates have ravaged the state to the point that Governor Kate Brown has ordered an indoor and outdoor mask mandate. She has activated the Oregon National Guard to help medical personnel in Eastern Oregon.  

The Oregon Employment Department, acting director, told the Oregonian that expecting people to get vaccinated during the Covid crisis is reasonable. Citizens who refuse the vaccination will be denied unemployment benefits. As we reported here last week, Governor Brown ordered healthcare workers and teachers to get vaccinated or be terminated. Her order defies a thirty-year Oregon law that protected workers from being ordered to take a vaccine.  

Observers across the country continue to be concerned about the expansion of executive power throughout the country during the pandemic. Governors have continued to rule by executive decree through executive orders, effectively circumventing the legislatures. There is no word whether anyone will legally challenge the latest ruling from the Oregon Employment Department. 

Oregon appears to be the first state or one of the first states to deny someone unemployment benefits due to refusing the vaccine. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that employers have the right to fire employees who refuse to take the vaccination. Several students from Indiana University Students took their case to the Supreme Court and lost their freedom to say no to the vaccine.  

The question remains will anyone be given the freedom to say no to getting the vaccine without being denied employment, education, and unemployment benefits.