Carhartt's decision to continue requiring its workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 led to a social media backlash against the workwear brand.
Earlier this week, a letter sent to employees illustrating Carhartt’s stance on vaccines began circulating on social media, angering many who disagree with the policy. The letter was sent following last week’s Supreme Court ruling against President Biden’s plan to require vaccines or routine COVID testing at companies with more than 100 employees.
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Carhartt’s letter was sent to reaffirm its vaccine requirement, despite the recent ruling, a company spokesman said in a statement.
“Carhartt made the decision to implement its own vaccine mandate as part of our long-standing commitment to workplace safety. Our recent communication to employees was to reinforce that the Supreme Court ruling does not affect the mandate we put in place,” the statement read.
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Many reacted negatively on social media, using a #BoycottCarhartt tag against the brand, which is popular with conservatives. By Wednesday afternoon, the brand had been mentioned in more than 60,000 tweets.
In an email, a spokesman reaffirmed the company’s position.
“Carhartt fully understands and respects the varying opinions on this topic, and we are aware some of our associates do not support this policy. However, we stand behind our decision because we believe vaccines are necessary to protect our workforce,” he wrote.
On Twitter, Carhartt was a trending topic and the backlash was plentiful.
