Judge Denies Mass General Employees Seeking Vaccine Injunction

BOSTON, MA —A federal judge on Thursday denied a request by a group of Mass General Brigham employees who are trying prevent the hospital system from firing them on Friday because they have not complied with a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to Universal Hub.

The group of more than 260 employees has claimed their firing by the state's largest hospital system would be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or in violation of their First Amendment religious rights.

But U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor ruled that the hospital proved a legitimate interest in requiring shots, and that the self-screening, frequent testing and social distancing proposed by the workers would not curb the virus like vaccines.

Saylor denied a similar injunction request by Mass General Brigham employees on Oct. 20, which was the deadline for employees to have at least one dose of the vaccine, or face unpaid leave. On Friday, the penalty for not having at least one shot is termination.

The employees who brought the suit - a group that includes registered nurses and an oncologist, according to Universal Hub -said the hospital was engaged in discrimination because it granted shot exemptions to 234 employees.

However, Saylor said the employees who brought the suit did not yet have a good enough case and failed to show the "irreparable harm" that is required for him to grant an injunction.

Rather, the judge wrote that the hospital proved "it would cause undue hardship on them to have a substantial numbers of unvaccinated employees."

The judge said that if the hospital were forced to retain the unvaccinated employees, it would lose public trust as an institution because it supports vaccines, but would be staffed by people who oppose the shot. Also, the judge said the hospital would lose money if it had to hire additional employees to replace unvaccinated workers who contracted COVID-19.

Saylor said Mass General "has a very strong interest in assuring the public that it is a reasonably safe environment" and doing all it can to reduce the spread of disease.

He concluded that the hospital system would face greater harm with unvaccinated employees on staff than the harm done to anti-vaccine employees if the injunction is not granted.

Read more at UniversalHub.com.