To Corporate Leadership,
I’m a former employee who held off on writing this for fear of being terminated. However, I want you all to know my reasons for resigning.
I loved my job and I was proud of my career. I wasn’t the best employee, but I tried to make decisions that helped the company and my coworkers succeed. I know I fell short of this on several occasions, but I learned from my mistakes and was able to move forward. My accomplishments are captured in 12 years of positive performance reviews.
Pandemic Response
My discomfort started when the company began to require employees to wear medical devices over their faces, despite not being fit tested. We were told that doing so would keep us safe from illness, but as a former Environmental Health & Safety Specialist, I know first-hand that this is not an appropriate use of personal protective equipment. You would not send someone into an asbestos abatement with a mask that was not fit tested or with improper cartridges, so I’m unclear on why cloth masks were presumed to protect us from the supposed deadliest virus known to mankind, which is also much smaller than the pores of even the best N95 masks.
A mask is the last line of defense, and it needs to be suitable for the task that’s being performed. Part of this requires fit testing employees to ensure a proper seal of the mask on the face. Some people fail fit-tests or have medical conditions that prevent them from partaking in tasks that require respiratory protection.
I’m aware of emergency orders from the state, as well as CDC and WHO recommendations, but instead of pushing back and defending employees’ rights, common sense, and well-established OSHA guidelines, the management and leadership capitulated.
Medical masks are used in hospitals and medical facilities to prevent the spread of pathogens in sterile environments. These masks are not appropriate for general public use because humans have natural immune systems, which are inherently equipped to operate in non-sterile environments.
There is also no expectation of a medically sterile environment in the workplace or in public. Those with compromised immune systems simply take the necessary steps to protect themselves as prescribed by their personal doctors.
Additionally, keeping a healthy immune system with a natural diet and regular exercise is the best defense against illness. I learned this basic wisdom in high school health class and I won’t discard it simply because hysterics in positions of leadership tell me I should.
Attempting to achieve a medically sterile world by mandating masks, daily medical screenings, and pharmaceuticals, is blatantly discriminatory and inhumane. There is no emergency in the world that justifies such atrocities. Those complicit in fostering this ‘new normal’, knowingly or not, are guilty of crimes against humanity. There is no question about this.
I was particularly bothered when glass barriers were installed in the office under the guise of keeping us safe from germs. I found it interesting how management never addressed the obese shift workers, sitting in a dark room for 12 hours a day, while eating processed foods and drinking soda, but suddenly found inspiration to become concerned for our health due to political pressure.
Instead of installing gym equipment providing free gym memberships, improving the sick policy, installing standing desks, or providing healthy food options for shift workers, you installed glass barriers, covered our faces, cultivated antisocial behavior, and told us it was for our health.
Your barriers are a massively ineffective waste of money that present a false sense of security. They are obstructions in a room that requires clear communication and in-person collaboration. Even with these barriers in place, your employees could be slowly dying of a terminal illness or could suddenly die of a heart attack. Both scenarios are more likely than contracting coronavirus and dying.
This is not to minimize premature deaths. This is only to say, that premature deaths don’t give you the right to treat employees like factory farm animals. And personally, I don’t think it’s ok to treat animals this way either.
Lastly, it is never acceptable to divulge personal health information via blast emails. Doing so is wholly unethical and an ‘emergency’ situation does not change this fact. I don’t need or want to know if my coworkers have coronavirus, the flu, or HIV, because this is private information and employees should not be encouraged to share it. Health is personal.
With the disregard for privacy, the glass cages, and being forced to cover my airways with a medical device that violated my body and hindered my natural immunity, there was no longer an amount of money that could satisfy me.
I’d do a lot of things for money, like cover extra shifts, work overtime when asked, drive through snow storms and hurricanes, sacrifice time with family and friends, and come into the office when others are too scared to do so, all without complaint. What I’ll never do is give up my health or my humanity.
Courageous Conversations
After being forced to wear improper PPE, being barricaded behind glass, and supposedly risking our lives at the office, while upper management worked comfortably from home, we were then told that white people had to atone for their sins of abusing black people.
This began with the death of George Floyd, which was a clear case of bad policing, but was instead used by the media and the company as an example of how white people mistreat black people.
I received multiple emails from company leaders lamenting the death of George Floyd while accusing whites of not doing enough to help blacks and blaming ‘systemic racism’ for their shortcomings. Leaders also supported and encouraged employees to attend BLM anti-white protests during the pandemic.
No one wants to be treated the way George Floyd was by a police officer. Not even the most hardened racist wants to live in a society where life is at the mercy of uniformed thugs. It’s deceptive to present this incident as an example of racism and doing so ultimately leads to further societal division and violence.
For such educated people, I’m surprised by your lack of critical thought on this subject. Racism is an easy, superficial answer to explain away the plight of blacks and to pit them against whites. Fortunately, not all of us are dim enough to believe this.
I was told that addressing racial injustice was not a political issue, but a safety issue and that discussing race in the workplace was appropriate and would improve the way we operated the system. Because of this, management pressured employees into participating in ‘Courageous Conversations’ meetings to have group discussions about race.
I refused to participate in these meetings because factoring in race and other immutable characteristics while conducting our duties at work is hazardous, illogical, and unethical. As you’re all aware, we are bound by standard operating procedures. These specifications along with factual information are what keep us safe as operators and field employees.
More importantly, as a Christian, my value system is dictated solely by the teachings of Jesus Christ, not by experts, politicians, professors, scientists, or the office of Diversity and Inclusion. From Galatians 5:14: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self.”
I wanted to come forward with my concerns, but the General Manager sent another email suggesting we read a book entitled ‘White Fragility’. After this, I was worried that my concerns would be dismissed as evidence of fragility and I feared being judged by the color of my skin.
Instead of focusing on delivering a quality product to customers and uniting employees around this goal, the company chose to pick a side in a politically charged battle.
Many of my former colleagues, of all races and backgrounds, feel the same way as I do, but they are afraid to speak up because they have families to feed and mortgages to pay. As I’m sure you know, most people can be guilted, scared, starved, or threatened into compliance, but those tactics are worthless against those who ‘put on the whole armor of God’.
You’ve alienated your sensible employees in favor of social justice organizations and instead of creating a culture of openness and transparency, you’ve created a culture of secrecy and fear. As long as you continue enforcing medical tyranny and racism, you remain the enemies of truth, no matter how pleased your shareholders are.
Conclusions
I never thought I’d leave the company. I loved the work, but most of all, I truly loved my colleagues and my friends. I cared for them in spite of race, rank, religion or any other category. I wanted to see everyone succeed because I cherished my professional relationships and my friendships.
I look back on my 12 years very fondly and I long for those bonds with my colleagues. I am forever upset by the circumstances under which I had to leave, but I could no longer comply with immoral and inhumane policies.
Thank you for your time, and I hope that you still have enough humanity to take an honest look at yourselves and admit that you have mistreated many loyal employees based on medical status and skin color. Even if you’ve done everything by the letter of the law, you’ve still broken the social contract, which can never be redefined.
“For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.” – I Timothy 5:8
In Liberty,
Mercy Otis Warren
P.S. Consider the following questions:
- What should happen to people who dissent against institutional political positions?
- What should happen to people who refuse gene therapy and vaccinations?
- Can you think of times in history when similar authoritarian policies were implemented?
