A longtime Cheyenne news anchor was fired from her job over the weekend due to her refusal to get vaccinated against the coronavirus and her exemption to the vaccination was denied.
Kerri Hayden of KGWN-TV worked her last day at the TV station on Saturday and penned a note to her viewers on social media afterward.
“After 25 years, my time at KGWN TV has come to an end,” Hayden wrote. “I value the freedom we all have to make our own informed decisions, however my right to choose was taken by a billion dollar company whose owners never even met me.”
She said that while she was neither for nor against the vaccine, she believed Americans had the right to decide what was best for them when it came to medical decisions.
Hayden noted that she submitted a request for an exemption to the vaccination mandate, but it was denied. She refused to get the vaccine, so she was fired from the station.
“I’ve made the decision to not allow Gray TV to control my personal choices,” she said.
According to PR firm Broadcasting+Cable, Gray TV sent out a memo to employees in August that they would be required to be vaccinated by Oct. 1.
Hayden was not the only Gray TV employee to lose her job over the mandate. A Nebraksa meteorologist, a Mississippi TV news anchor and a Missouri reporter were all fired from the company due to their refusal to get vaccinated, just to name a few examples.
In September, President Joe Biden announced that federal workers, health care workers and employees at companies that employ more than 100 people will have to be vaccinated against coronavirus or be tested for the illness weekly. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be responsible for levying fines against companies that do not comply with the mandate.
