Customers Call for Carhartt Boycott as Company Keeps Vax Mandate After SCOTUS Ruling

On Friday, Sept. 04, 2020, in advance of the Labor Day holiday, Carhartt unveiled a larger
Jon Morgan/AP Images for Carhartt
Nick Gilbertson

Many social media users are calling for a boycott of Carhartt, a company renowned for producing gear for blue-collar workers, over its decision to double down on a vaccine mandate following the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Biden administration’s mandate for the private sector.

On January 14, a day after the court’s decision, Carhartt CEO Mark Valade sent an email to employees stating the company would keep its mandate in place.

“The ruling does not change Carhartt’s mandatory vaccination program, which went into effect on January 4th,” Valade wrote. 

“We put workplace safety at the very top of our priority list and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling doesn’t impact that core value,” Valade’s email goes on to state. “We, and the medical community, continue to believe vaccines are necessary to ensure a safe working environment for every associate and even perhaps their households.”

Carhartt’s decision to uphold its company mandate was met with outrage by conservative customers, many of whom announced they would boycott the brand.

Journalist Jack Posobiec shared screenshots to Twitter showing that Carhartt was trending with 60,000 tweets after he says Twitter removed the hashtag #BoycottCarhartt.

“Good luck implementing your tyranny, morons,” tweeted lawyer Jenna Ellis, who served as a senior legal adviser and counsel to former President Donald J. Trump. “You picked the wrong demographic.”

Tim Kennedy, a Green Beret and former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter, simply tweeted, “Goodbye @Carhartt.”

Florida State Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R-32) tweeted that he sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) “urging him to eliminate any and all state agency business & contracts with the woke company @Carhartt.”

“Never ever buy @Carhartt products again,” tweeted Dr. Sebastian Gorka.

In the wake of the backlash and uproar, a Carhartt spokesperson reaffirmed the company’s position to Fox News:

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. 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.

“Carhartt employs more than 5,500 associates worldwide,” according to its website.

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