Allison Williams, a former ESPN sportscaster, spoke out about leaving the company over her refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine during a hearing on Thursday.
The hearing before the Select Committee On the Coronavirus Pandemic examined the “Science and Impact of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates.” (RELATED: Pentagon Officially Overturns Military Vaccine Mandate)
“On April 1st 2021, Disney sent an email to all employees stating that ‘getting the vaccine is a personal decision for each of us.’ That decision would prove temporary,” Williams said. “A few months later I received a notice from ESPN that effective August 1st of 2021 a COVID vaccine would be required to attend all remote events. This includes all games and remote studio shows. There would be absolutely no exemptions to this rule. Shortly thereafter, Disney extended this mandate to all employees regardless of travel unless a religious or medical accommodation was approved.”
🚨🚨🚨@ESPN, @Disney fired sports reporter @AllisonW_Sports for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine while undergoing fertility treatment.
Today, she told us her heartbreaking story👇 pic.twitter.com/fKtSN2JjXr
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) July 27, 2023
Williams announced she was leaving the company after her request for a vaccine exemption was denied. She had expressed concern about receiving the shot after consulting with a fertility specialist. Williams was attempting to have another child at the time.
“I was given one week to comply and get the injection or be separated from the company. I did not receive the vaccine as my beliefs did not change and therefore was terminated as an employee with ESPN in October of 2021. And just like that, newly pregnant, I was stripped of my job, health insurance, and having my personal medical decisions the topic of national news.”
Conservative media company The Daily Wire later hired Williams to host a sports series on the platform.
“I hope to be part of the solution, to make sure this type of tyranny never happens again in this great country, that we acknowledge the misguided directives and unnecessary harm done to countless Americans. Harms caused not by the virus, but by the response.”
Williams and another former employee sued the network in Jan. 2023, adding that the company “made no serious attempt” to accommodate their decisions not to take the shot.
Refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine was reportedly the 10th highest reason for job loss in 2021. Some experts have referred to it as the “great resignation.”
The New York City Department of Education allegedly marked employees who refused the vaccine with a “problem code” and sent the information to the FBI. The city was later ordered to reinstate all employees who were fired for refusing.