Earlier this year, the State of Massachusetts was asked to provide the “science” that justified school mask mandates and could not provide any. The answer? “The Department of Public Health does not have any documents in its custody or control that are responsive to your request.”
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health didn’t have any; just wear a mask ‘cuz reasons.
Along that same varicose vein, a University of Southern Maine professor was shown the door after asking for something similar from her school.
[Patricia] Griffin, a former professor of marketing, claims that the university fired her after she requested data that would support the university’s mask mandate.
According to the lawsuit, Griffin attended a luncheon in August 2021 remotely that then-President Glenn Cummings attended in person. Griffin claimed that Cummings was not adhering to the mask policy which prompted her to request the data responsible for the policy.
Griffin was attending remotely. She wasn’t there in person. And when pressed about not following the masking policy, she asked to see “the science” behind it. Instead of an answer, her classes were canceled, and she was suspended for not following the policy.
Griffin claims she never refused to follow the policy. She just asked for its justification. But asking questions or pursuing truth is no longer a feature of American universities. The approved knowledge is like scripture, not to be questioned.
In this case I feel confident that the University’s response would have been similar to that of the State of Massachusetts. “The Department of Public Health does not have any documents in its custody or control that are responsive to your request.”
To borrow from the sweat-shop sports shoe concern known as Nike, Just do It!
Potemkin Public Health
Griffin’s lawyers claim that the school wronged her because she never said she wouldn’t follow the policy. She only asked for the data that supported it during a remote online meeting, and for that, they ended her employment.
They wanted her to wear the mask even if she was alone and participating electronically. We’ve seen that before. Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources expected personnel to be masked even during online meetings.
“Also, wear your mask, even if you are home, to participate in a virtual meeting that involves being seen — such as on Zoom or another video-conferencing platform … “Set the safety example which shows you as a DNR public service employee care about the safety and health of others.”
I’m sorry, no! Masks present significant health risks to almost everyone for little or no public benefit. Masking in private is stupid, as is the notion that it sets a good example. But the real issue is that these entities provided no detailed informed consent related to risks associated with the requirement.
One local example is Plymouth State University. Masking wasn’t enough. They decided to mandate KN95 masks on campus. These are highly regulated pieces of protective equipment. OSHA has extensive rules and training requirements for their proper use and fit, complete with protection and compliance guides and a list of side effects that can result from prolonged use, like signs that you need to stop using them.
No one, to my knowledge (in the public or private sector) that embraced mask mandates did that or did it right with any style of mask. That includes surgical masks, which OSHA reminds us, “..are not designed or certified to prevent the inhalation of small airborne particles that are not visible to the naked eye but may still be capable of causing infection.”
The latter is the sort Professor Griffin was expected to wear while “dialing in” remotely to an event. Something she says she would do. She just wanted to see the data that justified it.
The University didn’t have any because it does not exist, so they fired her, and she is suing them. I’m not optimistic about her chances, but cases like this expose more people to the irrational chaos of pointless mandates, so we wish her luck.
