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More Than 150 Houston Hospital Workers Sacked for Refusing COVID Vaccinations - ABC News

Rejected submission by upstart at 2021-06-23 07:16:30
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More than 150 Houston hospital workers sacked for refusing COVID vaccinations - ABC News [abc.net.au]:

More than 150 employees at a Houston hospital system who refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine have been sacked or have resigned after a judge dismissed an employee lawsuit over the vaccine requirement.

Key points:

  • A total of 178 employees were suspended for refusing to get the vaccination, and 117 of them sued the hospital
  • The workers had an initial deadline of June 7 to receive the vaccine
  • Following the judge's ruling, the workers were given until June 22 to get vaccinated or have their employment terminated

A spokesperson for the Houston Methodist system said 153 employees either resigned in the two-week suspension period or were terminated on Tuesday, after the hospital's management gave them a June 22 deadline to get vaccinated.

Earlier this month, a federal judge threw out the lawsuit filed by employees over the requirement.

The Houston Methodist Hospital system initially suspended 178 employees without pay on June 8, over their refusal to get vaccinated.

Of them, 117 sued, seeking to overturn the requirement and over their suspension and threatened termination.

Holocaust comparison 'reprehensible'

In a ruling, US district judge Lynn Hughes deemed lead plaintiff Jennifer Bridges's contention that the vaccines were "experimental and dangerous" to be false and otherwise irrelevant.

He also found her likening the vaccination requirement to the Nazis' forced medical experimentation on concentration camp captives during the Holocaust to be "reprehensible".

Judge Hughes also ruled that making vaccinations a condition of employment was not coercion, as Ms Bridges contended.

 "If a worker refuses an assignment, changed office, earlier start time, or other directive, he may be properly fired. Every employment includes limits on the worker's behaviour in exchange for remuneration. That is all part of the bargain."

Ms Bridges has said that she and the others will take their case to the US Supreme Court if they have to.

She said: "This is only the beginning. We are going to be fighting for quite a while."

Ms Bridges confirmed she still had not received the vaccination, and said: “We all knew we were getting fired today. We knew unless we took that shot to come back, we were getting fired today. There was no ifs, ands or buts.”

Jared Woodfill, a Houston lawyer representing Bridges and the other clients, promised an appeal.

"All of my clients continue to be committed to fighting this unjust policy," Mr Woodfill said in a statement.

"What is shocking is that many of my clients were on the front line treating COVID-positive patients at Texas Methodist Hospital during the height of the pandemic. As a result, many of them contracted COVID-19.

"As a thank you for their service and sacrifice, Methodist Hospital awards them a pink slip and sentences them to bankruptcy."

Thousands at the hospital have been vaccinated

Houston Methodist’s decision in April made it the first major US health care system to require COVID-19 vaccinations for workers.

Many hospitals in the United States, including Houston Methodist, already require other types of vaccines, including for the flu.

In a memo sent out on Tuesday, the hospital system's CEO, Marc Boom, said  24,947 employees had complied with the vaccination requirement, and that 27 of the 178 others had received the first of a two-dose vaccine and would not be fired if they got their second.

“You did the right thing. You protected our patients, your colleagues, your families and our community," the memo said.

"The science proves that the vaccines are not only safe but necessary if we are going to turn the corner against COVID-19."

Mr Boom also wrote that 285 other employees received medical or religious exemptions, and 332 were deferred because they were pregnant or for some other reason.

AP

AP

AP

, updated 5hhours agoWedWednesday 23 JunJune 2021 at 2:14amupdated 5hhours agoWedWednesday 23 JunJune 2021 at 2:14amShare

More on:

More than 150 employees at a Houston hospital system who refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine have been sacked or have resigned after a judge dismissed an employee lawsuit over the vaccine requirement.

Key points:

  • A total of 178 employees were suspended for refusing to get the vaccination, and 117 of them sued the hospital
  • The workers had an initial deadline of June 7 to receive the vaccine
  • Following the judge's ruling, the workers were given until June 22 to get vaccinated or have their employment terminated

A spokesperson for the Houston Methodist system said 153 employees either resigned in the two-week suspension period or were terminated on Tuesday, after the hospital's management gave them a June 22 deadline to get vaccinated.

Earlier this month, a federal judge threw out the lawsuit filed by employees over the requirement.

The Houston Methodist Hospital system initially suspended 178 employees without pay on June 8, over their refusal to get vaccinated.

Of them, 117 sued, seeking to overturn the requirement and over their suspension and threatened termination.

Holocaust comparison 'reprehensible'

In a ruling, US district judge Lynn Hughes deemed lead plaintiff Jennifer Bridges's contention that the vaccines were "experimental and dangerous" to be false and otherwise irrelevant.

He also found her likening the vaccination requirement to the Nazis' forced medical experimentation on concentration camp captives during the Holocaust to be "reprehensible".

Judge Hughes also ruled that making vaccinations a condition of employment was not coercion, as Ms Bridges contended.

 "If a worker refuses an assignment, changed office, earlier start time, or other directive, he may be properly fired. Every employment includes limits on the worker's behaviour in exchange for remuneration. That is all part of the bargain."

Ms Bridges has said that she and the others will take their case to the US Supreme Court if they have to.

She said: "This is only the beginning. We are going to be fighting for quite a while."

Ms Bridges confirmed she still had not received the vaccination, and said: “We all knew we were getting fired today. We knew unless we took that shot to come back, we were getting fired today. There was no ifs, ands or buts.”

Jared Woodfill, a Houston lawyer representing Bridges and the other clients, promised an appeal.

"All of my clients continue to be committed to fighting this unjust policy," Mr Woodfill said in a statement.

"What is shocking is that many of my clients were on the front line treating COVID-positive patients at Texas Methodist Hospital during the height of the pandemic. As a result, many of them contracted COVID-19.

"As a thank you for their service and sacrifice, Methodist Hospital awards them a pink slip and sentences them to bankruptcy."

Thousands at the hospital have been vaccinated

Houston Methodist’s decision in April made it the first major US health care system to require COVID-19 vaccinations for workers.

Many hospitals in the United States, including Houston Methodist, already require other types of vaccines, including for the flu.

In a memo sent out on Tuesday, the hospital system's CEO, Marc Boom, said  24,947 employees had complied with the vaccination requirement, and that 27 of the 178 others had received the first of a two-dose vaccine and would not be fired if they got their second.

“You did the right thing. You protected our patients, your colleagues, your families and our community," the memo said.

"The science proves that the vaccines are not only safe but necessary if we are going to turn the corner against COVID-19."

Mr Boom also wrote that 285 other employees received medical or religious exemptions, and 332 were deferred because they were pregnant or for some other reason.

AP

AP

AP

, updated 5hhours agoWedWednesday 23 JunJune 2021 at 2:14amupdated 5hhours agoWedWednesday 23 JunJune 2021 at 2:14amShare

More on:

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