UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Major NY corporation to REQUIRE COVID-19 vaccine for entry at its offices

Starting July 12, all employees and guests who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will lose building access.

“Starting July 12 all employees, contingent workforce, clients, and visitors will be required to attest to being fully vaccinated to access Morgan Stanley buildings in New York City and Westchester,” Morgan Stanley HR chief Mandell Crawley said in an internal memo, according to the Financial Times. Morgan Stanley has already created “vaccine only” work areas within some of its teams, including institutional securities and wealth management.

“Make no mistake about it. We do our work inside Morgan Stanley offices, and that’s where we teach, that’s where our interns learn, that’s how we develop people,” Morgan Stanley’s chief executive James Gorman said. “If you can go into a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office.” Last week at a conference Gorma noted that 90% of Morgan Stanley employees who had returned to the office are vaccinated, and the bank expects a small number to be unvaccinated when the bank’s offices fully reopen after Labor Day.

“On Labor Day, I’ll be very disappointed if people haven’t found their way into the office. Then, we’ll have a different kind of conversation,” Gorman said. “Maybe they can’t or they won’t,” Gorman added of workers who are not vaccinated. “We’ll deal with that when we get there.” Morgan Stanley executives issued a memo on June 17 declaring that the bank had resumed in-person meetings with clients and investors. “We ripped the bandage at Morgan Stanley and took some investors to a HQ visit last week,” a Morgan Stanley executive said in the memo. “Everyone will have their own timeline and will do things when it feels right, but I have to say that if felt good to see IRs and investors together again.”

Other banks, such as Goldman Sachs, have made similar attempts to resume normal working conditions. Goldman Sachs welcomed its employees back to the office last week with live music and free food-truck lunches. Previously, Goldman Sachs required employees to disclose their vaccination status, but has not publicly announced any requirement of vaccination to enter the office. Blackstone said last month that its U.S. workers who are fully vaccinated could return to offices. BlackRock Inc. and Bank of America Corp. are also planning to prohibit unvaccinated employees from entering the office.