Christian personal finance guru Dave Ramsey hopes his staff will spread peace and goodwill during the Christmas season.
They may also be spreading COVID-19.
Ramsey Solutions, the company founded by the bestselling author and radio host, plans to host “Boots & BBQ,” a large in-person Christmas party, for hundreds of staff members at the company’s Franklin, Tennessee, headquarters, despite an outbreak of more than 50 cases at the company’s headquarters as late as mid-November.
An invitation, sent to the company’s 800 staffers in a newsletter obtained by RNS, advises that no children are allowed at the Christmas bash and that employees are limited to one guest apiece. No mention is made of masks being required.
In staff meetings and on his radio show, Ramsey described masks and other COVID-19 prevention strategies as a sign of fear.
More than 2,500 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Tennessee, where more than 5,200 people have died of complications from the virus. There have been more than 428,000 cases of COVID-19 in the state.
Ramsey Solutions does not require masks at its offices — Dave Ramsey himself has been a vocal opponent of mask-wearing and other COVID restrictions. In a clip from his daily radio show, posted on YouTube in November, Ramsey railed against what he called “totalitarian” government restrictions and mask mandates, saying he wanted to “start a crusade” against them.