Components

Case Study

Mandating Employee COVID-19 Vaccination: Hesitancy and BIPOC Concerns

Joy Iroegbu, Wilfrid Laurier University, Prescott C. Ensign, Wilfrid Laurier University
December 1, 2022
SKU:
BUS-009037
Region: 
North America
Topic: 
Ethics & Social Justice, Strategy & General Management, Human Resources & Organizational Behavior
Length: 
3 pages
Keywords: 
vaccine hesitancy, ethics, covid-19, pandemic, BIPOC, Human Resource Management
Copyrighted by: 
Society for Case Research
Student Price: 
$4.00 (€3.75)
Average rating: 
0

The US Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization of COVID-19 vaccines led J. R. Logan Hospital in March 2021 to be one of the first to mandate that all employees be vaccinated or else be terminated. Several hundred of its 8,000 employees immediately pushed back. Most were in nursing, custodial, kitchen, and unskilled healthcare positions. Many were minorities, recent immigrants or Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC). One vocal group of employees had filed for a court injunction. The vice president for human resources was responsible for implementing a plan to achieve 100% compliance. Students must consider: the ethical issues involved; concerns of vaccine-hesitant and BIPOC employees; implementation options; and selecting the best course of action.

Learning Outcomes: 

In completing this assignment, students should be able to:

1. Understand the ethical issues in a vaccination mandate for a hospital and its employees

2. Identify vaccine hesitancy issues raised by employees

3. Identify implementation strategies to secure employee compliance

4. Decide and defend the best course of action