Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles on Monday delivered a bold and unconventional message not only to his employees but also to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) bureaucrats concerning that agency’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Ogles said the county will not submit.
A divided Sixth Circuit vacated a stay of the OSHA rule last month. Plaintiffs challenging the OSHA mandate have asked the Supreme Court to re-impose the stay. U.S. Supreme Court justices heard arguments last Friday. They are expected to rule on the constitutionality of that mandate soon.
But Ogles isn’t waiting.
“Absent a stay from the Supreme Court later this week, OSHA will once again try and enforce their mandate. That said, Maury County Government will not comply with any OSHA mandate that forces an employee to be vaccinated against their will,” Ogles told county employees via email.
“It should be noted that I am not anti-vaccine, but your healthcare is your business, and I will willfully go to jail before forcing any of you to take the vaccine. I along with HR are keeping a close watch on the Supreme Court and their decision; we will update you once we have further information.”
This is not the first time that Ogles has defied the Biden administration on COVID-19 mandates, particularly the requirement that healthcare workers vaccinate themselves against COVID-19. Ogles, in November, warned his constituents that more than 1,000 local health care employees in Maury County could lose their jobs.
Ogles said at the time that the U.S. Constitution entitles health care workers to religious exemptions and other rights of conscience to refuse the vaccine. He also said the U.S. Constitution protects those workers from harassment or even job loss.
Biden’s federal regulations, Ogles said, were an “abuse of power” and “unconscionable” and that Tennesseans must not tolerate them.
At a press conference that month, Ogles spoke directly to health care workers.
“What I would encourage you to do is to file your religious exemption. Make them fire you,” Ogles said.
“Do not cave. And then we’ll take it from there.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Andy Ogles” by Andy Ogles.
How could this ever be a criminal offense? It’s civil, if anything.
Administrative, more like it. And I don’t know who could fire a mayor, since he’s elected.
Please do not go to jail!! Rather run for governor. Lee is a disaster.
Amen, We need you for governor! Lee is a joke!
Mayor Ogles, if you go to jail for that, you will have a bunch of us lined up outside the jail to bail you out!!
Amen brother. When did we go full on Fascist? My grandfather fought the NAZIS.
I see now that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called Democrats, NAZIS. And no surprise since he is vilified, censored and banned at their behest by MSM, big tech and social media.
“Governments love pandemics. They love pandemics for the same reason they love war. Because it gives them the ability to impose controls on the population that the population would otherwise never accept. To create institutions and mechanisms for orchestrating and imposing obedience.” —RFK, Jr.