Jenna Viani-Pascale is a now-former NICU nurse from New York state. She is one of approximately 34,000 health care workers fired or forced to quit in recent weeks when their state government ordered medical workers to get the COVID-19 shot or get fired.
“We fought through the whole pandemic and then, all of a sudden, now we’re kind of thrown out like trash,” she told Fox News in an interview this week.
Tens of millions of other Americans, from police officers and firefighters to bank tellers and factory workers, are experiencing the same heartbreaking frustration as they witness their own employer force them to get the experimental shot for fear of incurring costly fines from the federal government.
President Joe Biden announced in September he would force approximately 80 million employees across the nation to get The Jab by threatening their employers with crippling fines by OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which exists ironically to ensure worker safety while on the jobsite.
"We've been patient,” the president of the United States lectured unvaccinated Americans at the time, “but our patience is wearing thin and your refusal has cost all of us.”
In the worst days of the pandemic, New York's doctors and nurses went to work under the banner of "essential workers" in a state that was hard hit by the virus. In fact, hospital workers were treated as heroes back in July when New York City held a Manhattan parade for doctors, nurses, school teachers, and bus drivers.
OSHA threatens fines, prison for fake cards
After weeks of waiting, and growing skepticism the Biden administration was bluffing, OSHA announced Nov. 4 the deadline for complying is January 4, 2022.
According to Fox Business, OSHA announced it will fine businesses up to $14,000 if they fail to comply with what the federal agency calls an “emergency temporary standard” that is being challenged in federal courts by dozens of plaintiffs across the nation ranging from businesses to state attorneys general.
President Biden’s mandate is on hold, at least temporarily, after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay over the Nov. 6 weekend and the federal government responded to the lawsuit in a court filing on Nov. 8.
American Family Association, the parent organization of American Family News, is one of numerous plaintiffs in the 5th Circuit lawsuit that are represented by First Liberty Institute.
"Any mandate that forces us to compel our employees, our AFA family, to be vaccinated against their wills is one that would require us to violate our family's sacred right of conscience," Abraham Hamilton III, AFA general counsel, said. "That is something we cannot and will not do."
In its response to the lawsuit, the U.S. Dept. of Justice said OSHA estimates 6,500 employees will be saved, and 250,000 hospitalizations prevented, if the “emergency temporary standard” wins over the lawsuits.
So many lawsuits have hit the federal courts that court documents suggest all of the legal cases will be combined and assigned to one federal court district, Fox Business, citing those court documents, reported in a Nov. 9 story.
Responding to the 5th Circuit’s temporary order, Karine Jean-Pierre, the deputy press secretary, told reporters Monday that employers should be “getting their workplace vaccinated” and not await a court decision in coming weeks.
“The administration clearly has the authority to protect workers,” Jean-Pierre told reporters, “and actions announced by the President are designed to save lives and stop the spread of COVID-19.”
If small-business owners believed their government would allow them to avoid an OSHA inspection and hefty fines, that slippery slope appears to be slipping after the U.S. surgeon general admitted to ABC News the 100-employee threshold is not a certainty.
“Certainly nothing is off the table,” Dr. Vivek Murthy, pressed about expanding the mandate to smaller businesses, replied.
Linda Stein, editor of Pennsylvania newspaper Delaware Valley Journal, tells American Family News people are worried about being forced to get the shot and are also worried about their own job security.
She points out the Biden administration has said employees could get tested weekly as an alternative to the shot but the cost for the test falls on the employee.
As of now, the Biden mandate is targeted at private businesses with 100 or more workers but Stein says small business operators are wondering if they are next.
"There's many small businesses owners who are worried and have talked to me about it," she says. "They think there is going to be another shoe to drop on them."
Back in New York, fired nurse Viani-Pascale said she was told by Vassar Brother Medical Center that her opposition to The Jab was putting the hospital’s medical license at risk. Even though she suffered a stroke last fall, and had concerns over the documented blood-clotting effects of the supposed vaccine, that medical concern was ignored by her employer and she was fired.
"I’d prefer not to be an experiment," Viani-Pascale said. "I think that it’s a fair choice to be able to say you want to wait for long-term data.”
The story has been updated with comments from Linda Stein of the Delaware Valley Journal.
