Columbia SC Radio: Tim Hill EXITS WNKT Over Mandate

A Columbia, SC  sports radio talk show host says he was fired after refusing to comply with the Cumulus Media's coronavirus vaccination policy, reports The Hill. 

Tim Hill, Program Director and a host of “The Game” show on WNKT 107.5 FM in Columbia, S.C., said in a video message posted to his Twitter account on Monday that last Friday was his final show. He announced that he had been fired by Cumulus Media, the company that owns the station.

Tim Hill

“Never thought it would come to this and am pretty sad,” Hill says on the video. “It was something I feel like I needed to stand up for, I believed in sincerely. I would never tell anyone they had to be vaccinated or unvaccinated. I feel like this is a very personal choice.”

Cumulus Media in August informed employees it would require them to be vaccinated by the end of September, in order to return to the office two weeks later on Oct. 11, radioinsight.com reported.

“Exceptions to the return to office plan will not be considered except as legally required. The decision to return to our offices was made with utmost consideration and reflects how we believe we can optimize our business efforts," the company reportedly said in a memo to its thousands of employees. "Put simply, we believe that FORCE CUMULUS is at our best when we’re working together in offices. To do that as safely as we reasonably can, we’re requiring that everyone be vaccinated except those legally exempt. It would neither be fair nor do we have the bandwidth to make exceptions based on individual preferences.” 

Hill, who is Catholic, said he applied with the company to receive an exemption on religious grounds but was denied. 

“If you have a sincerely held religious belief, then it becomes a matter of reasonable accommodation,” Hill told the State Newspaper. “They said they couldn’t reasonably accommodate me. I offered to wear a mask or do the show from where our producer does it, or from home. They thought none of that was reasonable.”