After nearly a year of the pandemic that reduced New York City’s restaurant industry, which forced thousands of businesses to close permanently and cost tens of thousands of people their jobs, this month brought a bit of optimism.
Limited indoor eateries have resumed and restaurant workers, including waiters, cooks and those delivering, have joined the growing list of New York State residents eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine.
But in one Brooklyn restaurant, the changes touched on a clash between the owner and a waitress who was fired Monday, she said, giving her resistance to being vaccinated out of concern that it would jeopardize her chances of getting pregnant impair.
The restaurant, the Red Hook Tavern, demanded over the weekend that the employees be vaccinated and the waitress, Bonnie Jacobson, subsequently terminated when she asked for time to investigate the possible effects of the vaccine on fertility.
“I fully support the vaccine,” she said. Jacobson, 34, said in an interview Wednesday. She added: “If it were not for this one thing, I would probably get it.”
The owner of the restaurant did not want to comment specifically on the case of me. Jacobson did not, but he said the company’s policy has been reviewed to make it clearer to employees how they can get exemption from being vaccinated.
The experience of me. Jacobson comes because the restaurant industry, whose future is critical to the recovery of New York, is struggling to overcome the heavy toll of the pandemic.
The dispute highlights the challenges facing employers across the United States as they try to figure out how to ensure their workers are vaccinated, including whether it should become mandatory or even be encouraged.
In New York, restaurant workers are one of the first non-healthcare workers to be eligible for the vaccines. For restaurants, the fact that workers are vaccinated is not only a way to protect their health, but is also seen as crucial to attracting sloppy customers. Elsewhere, some California restaurant workers may be eligible for the vaccine later this month.
The vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna and now being distributed have not been tested on pregnant women, but they have shown no adverse effects in animal studies or proven to affect fertility.
Last month, the World Health Organization advised pregnant women not to use the vaccines unless they are at high risk due to underlying health conditions or possible exposure to the coronavirus. But the organization also said that “based on what we know about this type of vaccine, we have no specific reason to believe that there will be specific risks that will outweigh the benefits of vaccination for pregnant women.”
The owner of the Red Hook Tavern, Billy Durney, would not answer questions about Ms Jacobson, but he suggested that the issue could be handled differently and that it led to an immediate change in the restaurant’s employee guidelines for the request to exemption.
“After the state allowed New York restaurant workers to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, we thought it was the ideal opportunity to put in place a plan to keep our team and guests safe,” he said. Durney said in an email.
“No one has faced these challenges before and we have made a decision that we think would best protect us all,” he added. “And we now realize that we need to update our policies so that it is clear to our team how the process works and what we can do to support it.”
As vaccines only become available in December, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that enforces workplace discrimination laws, has issued guidelines stating that businesses may require workers to be vaccinated. The commission nevertheless said that employers should offer a “reasonable accommodation” to disabled people.
But in interviews, employment attorneys said the case in Brooklyn was perhaps the first public notoriety of someone losing a job because he would not be vaccinated.
“Employers are in a difficult position because, on the one hand, they have a duty to protect their employees and customers, and the virus is a very clear and dangerous disease that often has fatal consequences,” said Lorie E. Almon, a labor and labor labor, said. lawyer at the firm Seyfarth Shaw. “On the other hand, workers are understandably concerned about such vaccinations.”
Me. Almon added: “This is a problem that will come up over and over again as the vaccine becomes more widely available.”
Carolyn D. Richmond, a labor attorney who advises the NYC Hospitality Alliance, an industry group representing the city’s restaurants and bars, said she believes it was too early in the vaccination for businesses to determine the requirements because shots was still hard to get. .
“Pregnancy and vaccination – as soon as you hear these words in the workplace, you need to stop and think about whether it’s right or wrong what you are doing,” she said. ‘It should be widely available to the employee population and it is not so. None of us have easy appointments. ”
Me. Jacobson’s personal story over the past year has reflected the views of many New Yorkers. She started 2020 with reason for hope: a new job and a plan to try to have a child with her husband.
But with the pandemic sweeping the city, she lost her job in April at the Wing, a social club and co-working space for women with branches in New York and other cities. In August, she got a job as a waitress at the Red Hook Tavern.
Me. Jacobson worked part-time most weeks and took available shifts while the restaurant served outside customers. Some days were busier than others, including a 13-hour shift on Sunday, Valentine’s Day.
During a shift a few days earlier, she felt her phone vibrate with a message from the restaurant’s management that she only read later that evening. It is mandatory to be vaccinated.
Me. Jacobson responded Monday morning, reiterating her desire to know more about the possible impact of the vaccine on fertility. Management’s response, which she gave to a reporter, was complicated: ‘At the moment, your service will be terminated. We are sad to see you go. If you change your mind, please let us know. ”
Me. Jacobson was eager Wednesday to let go of the thoughts of what happened. She spent the day with her husband outdoors and visited the Brooklyn Museum.
“The restaurant industry, it takes a lot from you and does not give back much,” she said. “It really brought it to the surface for me.”