A group said that employees who have refused to be vaccinated have been subjected to workplace harassment, ridicule, demotion, and termination. Image: Antwon McMullen/Shutterstock.com
The group sponsoring the main legal challenge to the Coronavirus vaccine mandate has said that regardless of how that case ultimately is resolved, it intends to file additional suits against the Biden administration related to the mandate.
Of the dozen or more suits against the mandate itself the one brought by the Feds for Medical Freedom group is the only one to result in a court decision against the mandate. In that case, a federal district judge in Texas in January 2022 issued an injunction that has remained in effect since then through a number of legal motions; it most recently was upheld by the full federal Fifth Circuit court of appeals.
Because at least two other federal appeals courts have ruled instead that the case should have first gone through internal governmental civil service appeals channels, rather than directly into federal court, there is a prospect of the Justice Department asking the Supreme Court to resolve that difference. Or, the administration might decide to drop the mandate—possibly in May when the formal pandemic declaration is to end—which could make the case moot. (See related story.)
Feds for Medical Freedom said that the Fifth Circuit ruling “was a big win for our members, but we are just getting started. Feds for Med Freedom intends to file new suits in federal court for violations of our members’ rights, including under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the U.S. Constitution. We will be fighting for justice for those whom the vaccine has injured.”
The group said that employees who have refused to be vaccinated “have been subjected to workplace harassment, ridicule, demotion, and termination” that will serve as the basis for the suits.
The injunction was issued just as agencies were preparing to take disciplinary actions, potentially including firing, to unvaccinated employees who did not have a granted or pending request for an exception for religious or medical reasons. At the time, some employees had received letters of warning or of potential suspensions that could have been a first step toward firing; no actual firings have been reported, although there were reports of employees resigning rather than waiting to be fired.
Note: Biden’s order and the resulting suits are separate from a similar policy that already had been put in effect at the VA. That department has reported firing a small number of employees, mostly on charges of not following safety protocols.
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