More Television Employees Quit Their Jobs, Refuse Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine

Several Gray Television workers, including a news anchor on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and a meteorologist in Nebraska, have resigned rather than be vaccinated against COVID-19.

(Photo : Patrick van Katwijk/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
Several employees from Gray Television quit their jobs due to vaccine mandate.

Gray Television Vaccine Mandate Leads to the Resignation of News Anchor

In a recently published article in MSN News, Meggan Gray, an 18-year employee, quit her co-hosting job on WLOX-"Good TV's Morning Mississippi" last Thursday, a day before a requirement requiring complete vaccination went into effect on October 1.

Gray Television, the parent company of the Biloxi-based station, said on Facebook that all workers, visitors, contractors, and renters must be completely vaccinated against the virus. She did all she could to retain her work, including volunteering to get tested regularly. Her pleas, however, were turned down.

Rick Williams, the general manager of WLOX, said he couldn't comment on a personnel issue. Gray Television's vaccination policy, according to his email, is intended to guarantee a healthy working environment, with exceptions restricted to "specific medical circumstances and or religious objections," according to a published report in Sun Herald.

Other Employees Who Quit Their Jobs

Tim Jones, a meteorologist at another Gray Television station in Hastings, Nebraska, was fired as a result of the policy or vaccination requirement. Jones went to YouTube to express his dissatisfaction with his firing from a job he had held for almost eight years.

He said, "The whole thing sucks, but bigger and better things ahead. My fellow coworkers who also lost their jobs from this unfair policy," according to a published report in CBS News. Additionally, Dave Platta, a sports anchor fired from an ABC station in Columbus, Georgia, said something similar.

The 36 years sports anchor veteran said that his departure was not his choice or of the WTVM but of the new policy of Gray Television. Meanwhile, the station posted on its website that WTCM will miss Platta, and they appreciate his contributions to the station's success.

In addition to Jones, Gray, and Platta, two additional Gray workers, 14-year employee Linda Simmons, a reporter in Springfield, Missouri, and Karl Bohnak, a meteorologist in Marquette, Michigan, have gone public about their dismissals owing to their refusals to be vaccinated.

Simmons said that he appreciates everyone's right to make their own educated choices. According to the Kansas City Star, she also defended her choice not to be vaccinated in a radio appearance, stating, "I really think God was giving me reasons why I didn't need to get it."

After refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, a meteorologist who worked for a Michigan TV station for more than 30 years was dismissed. Karl Bohnak announced on Facebook earlier last week that his 33-year career at NBC station WLUC has come to an end.

Bohnak, 68, wrote on Facebook that he was skeptical about "these injections," claiming that his odds of dying from COVID-19 were little to none and that he was reluctant to "risk severe adverse effects" from the vaccination, according to a published report in Business Insider.