Longtime SC sports personality says he was fired for refusing COVID vaccine mandate
Tim Hill is usually dealing with South Carolina football fans on Monday mornings after a Gamecocks win or loss. Now, Hill is figuring out the next step in his career.
The University of South Carolina grad said he was fired from his duties at 107.5 FM for not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, which was mandated by the station’s parent company, Cumulus.
Hill was the program director and co-host of “The Early Game” show with Bill Gunter, which airs weekdays from 6 to 9 a.m. on WNKT 107.5 FM in Columbia. Hill’s last day on the air was Friday.
Hill talked with The State about the reasons behind his decision not to get the vaccine and posted a short video on Twitter with the news Monday morning.
“Various religious reasons and the lack of any long-term studies have led me to this decision,” Hill told The State. “I don’t know what medical decisions are right for others. Others don’t know what medical decisions are right for me.
“I felt like I had to stand up for it. I have three boys and tell them to stand up for what they believe in. It is my job to teach them that. I felt like it was a test in some way. That is what I stuck with. So, that is why it wasn’t a difficult decision from my perspective.”
In mid-August, Cumulus Radio announced that all employees had to be vaccinated ahead of the company’s return-to-work date of Oct. 11.
“The decision to return to our offices was made with utmost consideration and reflects how we believe we can optimize our business efforts,” Cumulus said in a memo to employees, according to a report by radioinsight.com. “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 excepted. It would neither be fair nor do we have the bandwidth to make exceptions based on individual preferences.”
On-air talent from the Columbia station had been doing shows from their homes since the COVID-19 pandemic over a year ago. Some employees began returning to the workplace earlier, but Monday was the first day Cumulus wanted everyone back in their offices.
In South Carolina, 2.3 million eligible residents (53%) are fully vaccinated, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Cumulus employees were required to have at least one shot by Sept. 27. The State reached out to 107.5 FM and Cumulus seeking comment Monday morning.
Hill, a devout Catholic, made an appeal based on religious beliefs but said that was recently denied. In July, the Catholic Medical Association said it “opposed mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of employment without conscience or religious exemptions.”
“While we recognize the importance of this consideration medically and ethically,” the Catholic group said, “the church’s teaching is clear, that ‘as a rule’ vaccination ‘must be voluntary’ and based on an individual’s personal assessment in good conscience of the medical risks/benefits and morality of a particular vaccine. This is imperative.”
Pope Francis has encouraged Catholics to be vaccinated, and the Vatican will require all employees to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test beginning on Oct. 1, according to the Washington Post.
“I’m Catholic and I know the Pope has encouraged people to become vaccinated, so it is a complicated issue. What I sat with it is, the church teaches vaccines should never be mandatory,” Hill said.
Hill said he offered to have an air filtration system installed at the station and to use his own microphone. He said he only comes into contact with a handful of people at work each day.
“If you have a sincerely held religious belief, then it becomes a matter of reasonable accommodation,” Hill said. “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.”
Hill, who is married and a father of three boys, said he doesn’t know what’s next in his career and told The State several times that he is “at peace with his decision.”
He has been a popular figure in the Columbia area for more than two decades. Before working at 107.5, Hill was the sports director at WOLO, Columbia’s ABC affiliate, for 13 years before making the move back to radio full time.
While at WOLO, Hill co-hosted the “Halftime Show” with Jay Phillips in 2016 before earning a spot on “The Early Game” morning show. He also worked at 1400 AM The Team and co-hosted a show with Matt Barrie, who now works at ESPN, from 2007-08.
This story was originally published October 11, 2021 at 11:51 AM.
