County prosecutor makes COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for office employees; local rep fires back

DAYTON — Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. told employees at the prosecutor’s office they will need to get a COVID-19 vaccine, a move that some in Columbus are trying to prevent with a new bill focused on discrimination due to the vaccine.

“As we move toward coming back into the office full-time, I am now requiring any employee that has not received a COVID vaccine to sign up for and receive the vaccine within a reasonable time,” Heck said in an email to staff last week.

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Ohio Rep. Rodney Creech (R-West Alexandria) opposed the move by Heck, saying it added to the need for House Bill 248.

“As an employer I would never do this. I would never force something on my employees that they should be choosing on their own.” Creech said. “As an elected official, he works for the people and it’s a little bit different. The private and public sectors can’t operate exactly the same.”

House Bill 248, which is also known as the Vaccine Choice & Anti-Discrimination Act, would protect people who choose not to be vaccinated from discrimination due to their vaccine status.

“There are eleven and a half million people in Ohio,” said State Rep. Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester), who introduced the bill earlier this month. “Many people across the state may be likely to decline vaccines like the COVID-19 vaccine for conscientious, religious, or medical reasons. Without the exemption provisions this bill provides, the notion of a vaccine passport could easily lead to a class system in Ohio where segregation and discrimination will proliferate.”

Heck said there are reasons where prosecutor’s office employees won’t be required to get a shot.

“The only exceptions that will be made to this requirement are for a qualifying disability or medical condition (with medical documentation supporting an employee not getting the vaccine) or for a validated, sincerely held religious belief,” Heck said.

“I think if someone just says, ‘I’m not going to be responsible. I’m not going to have any care for the welfare of either my family, myself or especially my co-workers, or the number of people who come through my office every day,’ then they probably better look for another job,” Heck said.

Heck said his office and the criminal justice system has been significantly impacted with some judges postponing jury trials until July and grand jury sessions having to be cancelled, putting the system behind almost 600 cases.

“In this situation it’s important to me as an elected official, as the boss of a large office, that I have to make sure that we are all safe, first of all. That my employees are safe, that they’re co-workers are safe. That they’re families are safe. And certainly that the people they come into contact with whether it’s survivors, victims, juries, potential jurors, judges, the police officers that come in daily and so it’s important to me that we keep everybody safe,” Heck said.

Creech argues that Heck’s stance to require the vaccine should not event be on the table at the moment. Creech himself said he does not plan to get the shot.

“To say take the shot or take a hike, I think that’s a bold statement. And it’s just not the way that anyone should operate,” Creech said. “These products are not approved by the FDA, so technically what they’re doing is forcing a vaccine that’s not been approved by the FDA on their people.”

The FDA has granted Emergency Use Authorization to three COVID-19 vaccines, including Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. However, Johnson & Johnson vaccinations have been paused for several days after concerns were raised about a rare blood clotting issue involving some patients who had received the shot.

But, is the mandate put in place by Heck legal?

Human resources expert John Davis from Cedarville University said your job can require you get the vaccine.

“Employers can press their employees to take the vaccine, but again a wise employer is going to be one who’s going to be thinking about why am I requiring this? And can I example unity in our efforts in our mission of what we’re trying to do as an organization plays a role in that.” Davis told News Center 7′s John Bedell.

Even though recent guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says employers can require their employees to get a COVID-19 shot, they do have to make exceptions for workers religious and disability accommodations under the Civil Rights Act, The Americans Disabilities Act and the Ohio Civil Rights Act, according to the Ohio State Bar Association.

Cox Media Group