Attorney General’s office says complaints about out-of-compliance employers are already rolling in
Florida’s Attorney General Ashley Moody unveiled online tools on Dec. 3 that workers can use to easily report violations of a new law requiring employers to accept exemptions to vaccine mandates.
The new online documents clearly explain the rules, and the process, for employees wanting to opt-out of getting COVID-19 vaccines, and describe the way violations will be handled. COVID-19 is the illness caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus.
By clearly defining the process, and providing links to easy-to-complete forms, Moody has not only given the new law “teeth, but it also provides some legit tools for uninjected employees facing discriminatory working conditions,” said Jeff Childers, a Central Florida attorney.
Already, complaints about employers are rolling in, said Lauren Cassedy, a spokeswoman for Moody.
Since early 2020, Childers has been representing individuals, and large groups, fighting mask and vaccine mandates.
He rallied the 40,000 readers of his daily coffeeandcovid.com blog to pressure elected officials with a phone-call campaign asking for a special session to create that law, and others related to COVID-19.
Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis eventually called for the special session Childers and his readers had wanted and, four days later, state lawmakers delivered four bills—including one to protect the jobs of workers opposed to getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Another gave parents the right to decide whether their children should, or should not, wear masks at school.
DeSantis signed the bills into law at a ceremony last month in Brandon, Florida. The laws took effect immediately. And Childers’ readers promptly sent in $60,000 in donations to the DeSantis reelection campaign as a show of their thanks. The donations could be attributed to the group effort because each individual donation was at least $12 and ended with a two.
Guidelines posted over the weekend give employees and independent contractors of employers requiring COVID-19 vaccinations access to exemption forms to meet their individual needs, as defined by a new state emergency rule.
By Nanette Holt
