Popular WLOX anchor loses job for refusing to get COVID vaccine. ‘I preserved my integrity.’
Rather than be vaccinated against COVID-19, Meggan Gray gave up the job she loves as a morning news co-anchor at WLOX-TV.
The popular morning news anchor parted ways with the Biloxi-based TV station on Sept. 30, the day WLOX’s parent company, Gray Television, required employees to be vaccinated.
In a Facebook post, Gray said she faced termination if she did not comply with the corporate policy, which says all employees, guests, outside contractors and tenants must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The “Good Morning Mississippi” co-host has been with WLOX for 18 years.
“I am not vaccinated, and therefore I am no longer eligible for employment with Gray Television or any of their stations,” she wrote.
Why she declined COVID vaccine
Gray said she decided against getting vaccinated before her employer required it because she had already survived COVID, adding that other “powerful reasons” also came into play. She didn’t elaborate on those reasons in the Facebook post.
“I know there will be people who disagree with me or do not understand my reasons,” Gray wrote. “That is fully understood because that is a protected right they enjoy. Moreover, it is a personal decision for each American; but in my opinion, a forced decision to decide between a vaccination and the livelihood of an individual is a dangerous precedent.”
Gray said she tried to keep her job, but her employers rejected her offer to get tested weekly for COVID.
“It hurts saying goodbye; it hurts parting on these terms,” she wrote. “However, I know in my heart it is the right decision for me and my family.”
Gray said she felt compelled to tell viewers why they’d no longer see her on WLOX based on a lesson about doing the right thing from her father.
“I may have lost my job, but I preserved my integrity,” she wrote.
Gray also said goodbye to her viewers at the end of her last broadcast, her voice choked with emotion.
“I did want to just take a little moment and let you know that I honestly do not know what the future holds for me as far as my career here at WLOX news.
“And I just felt that I owed it to you to take a moment while I had an opportunity to say thank you for allowing me into your homes . . .
“I’ve had a wonderful 18-year career here and I’m very grateful for every moment of it.”
Co-anchor tells WLOX viewers goodbye
Gray’s Facebook post received more than 300 comments, most of them supportive, and was shared 125 times. Many viewers told her how much they will miss her on the morning news show.
Some of the comments were from former co-workers, including retired Sportscaster A.J. Giardiana, who wrote, “Every American has the right to make their own choice and you stood up to voice your personal feelings, even if it meant losing your job!”
WLOX General Manager Rick Williams told the Sun Herald in an email that he could not comment on a personnel matter. He included a statement from Gray about its vaccination policy, adopted to ensure a safe work environment, the statement said.
The statement said exceptions to the requirement were limited to “certain medical conditions and or religious objections that can be accommodated.”
A majority of employees are fully vaccinated, the statement said.
“Consistent with our commitment to a safe working environment, we unfortunately have had to terminate the employment of a very small portion of our workforce who declined to get vaccinated and/or who requested an exemption that could not be accommodated without imposing an undue hardship on the business or their coworkers,” the statement said.
It also said employees could reapply for jobs if they later decide to get fully vaccinated.
A television reporter in Springfield, Missouri, also spoke out about her termination after Gray would not accept a religious exemption for vaccine refusal, McClatchy news reported.
