Deadline Day at United Airlines passed on Monday, leaving about 1,000 employees who did not take the COVID-19 vaccination or receive a medical or religious exemption vulnerable to furloughs or, worse, termination.
The nation's second-largest airline announced last month a mandate that all 67,000 employees must be fully vaccinated by October 25. With just about three weeks between shots needed for the more popular Pfizer-Moderna vaccination, United set Monday, Sept. 28 as the deadline to prove workers had received at least one shot.
If not, they risk being fired.
Even those granted a religious or medical exemption were only granted temporary unpaid leave.
According to a memo sent to employees and seen by CNBC, the process might have already started.
"If you have not received and reported at least one shot or have not been granted an accommodation extension, United will start the separation process as early as September 28," the company told employees last week.
United CEO Scott Kirby said in a Monday interview that 98.5 percent of employees had been vaccinated, leaving a little more than 1,000 who haven't.
At least six of those employees have filed suit against the airline in federal court, seeking to block the mandate by United and alleging that the company discriminated against employees who requested religious or medical accommodations.
Newsweek identified the six workers as two pilots, a flight attendant, a technician, a customer service representative and a station operations representative.
"What United did do was rely on arbitrary line-drawing rather than engaging in the interactive process with each employee who requested an accommodation," the suit reads. "United's actions have left Plaintiffs with the impossible choice of either taking the COVID-19 vaccine, at the expense of their religious beliefs and their health or losing their livelihoods."
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