PASCO — The Washington state Office of Attorney General is being sued for firing employees who refused to get a COVID-19 vaccination during the pandemic, citing their religious beliefs.
The federal court lawsuit also names as defendants executives of the office, including Gov. Bob Ferguson, who was the attorney general until becoming governor in January.
It was filed on behalf of 10 former employees by the nonprofit Silent Majority Foundation, based in Pasco and directed by attorney Pete Serrano, who is also the Pasco mayor.
Fired employees are asking for back and future lost wages and benefits, compensation for emotional distress and punitive damages.
Their constitutional rights to religious freedom and due process have been violated and they were wrongfully terminated, including as retaliation, the lawsuit claims.
The Silent Majority Foundation said in a news release that it filed the lawsuit to remind elected officials that they have a duty to the Constitution and to the protection of their workers’ rights.
“This is a case where it’s clear that the agency sought to violate the rights of some of its workforce to placate the desires of another portion of its staff,” the foundation said.
The Office of Attorney General had said that the overwhelming majority of the feedback it had here from its staff is that people would feel safer in a workplace where people were vaccinated, according to the foundation.
Three of the plaintiffs had religious exemptions denied.
One of those workers said that God created her with an effective immune systems and that the vaccine mandate appeared to be similar to a cult belief and she could not participate in the “rites” of this false religion.
The other seven workers suing had their religious exemptions approved but then were not given accommodations to allow them to continue working without being vaccinated against COVID.
Most had worked from home 100% of the time early in the pandemic, and some of them had worked from home before the pandemic. But in February 2022 staff were notified that employees would be required to return to the office.
They were told that being unvaccinated posed a threat to their health and safety and those of other workers. An effort had been made to accommodate them in different positions, but all positions available required them to work in the office or spend time in the community, such as making visits to courthouses, they were told.
One plaintiff argued that being unvaccinated in the courtroom would not make a difference because other people in the courtroom also were likely to be unvaccinated. Another pointed out that the agency lacked enough office space for all workers to return to the office.
The plaintiffs claim that other alternatives to vaccination were not considered, such as wearing masks, testing for COVID, screening for COVID symptoms or social distancing, which could have let them “honor their religious beliefs, uphold their faith and safely fulfill the responsibilities of their positions.”
They also said that immunity they had acquired by being ill with COVID should have been considered.
The lawsuit accused the plaintiffs of having hostility toward their religious obligations, saying that the Office of Attorney General granted at least half of the medical accommodations requested, with those workers allowed into offices as needed. However, most religious accommodations were denied during the same time period, according to the lawsuit.
The 10 workers who filed a lawsuit were fired between December 2021 and mid July 2022. The vaccine requirement for the Office of Attorney General was rescinded in August 2023.
The Office of the Attorney General and other plaintiffs associated with the office have a deadline to file responses in court by Feb. 17.
