SPOKANE, Wash. — A federal judge in Eastern Washington denied a lawsuit Monday filed by firefighters, state troopers and other state employees to stop the state's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The COVID-19 vaccine mandate proclamation was issued by Wash. Gov. Jay Inslee on Sept. 27, 2021. The proclamation stated that all healthcare, education and state employees must have been fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, or they could be terminated. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Rice denied the motion for a temporary restraining order.
“The Supreme Court has long endorsed state and local government authority to impose compulsory vaccines," Rice wrote in his ruling. "Federal courts have routinely analyzed such cases using rational basis and regularly reject cases similar to this one that challenge vaccine mandates based on free exercise of religion.”
The 19 state workers who filed the lawsuit cited that the mandate violated their contract between workers and the state.
Here are the defendants mentioned in the lawsuit:
- Washington Gov. Jay Inslee
- The City of Spokane
- Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer
- Washington State Patrol (WSP) Chief executive officer John Batiste
- Secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation Roger Millar
- Secretary of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services
Plaintiffs listed on the lawsuit include three firefighters, nine employees at Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), three employees at the Washington State Patrol (WSP) and four employees at Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and one health care worker in Spokane County.
The causes of action, or basis for the lawsuit included deprivation of religious freedom, violations of contract, the Americans with Disabilities Act and more.