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CNN
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A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Houston Methodist Hospital by employees who opposed a Covid-19 vaccine mandate as a condition of employment.
On Saturday, US District Court judge Lynn Hughes ruled against Jennifer Bridges and 116 of her Houston Methodist colleagues who had sued for blocking compulsory vaccination against Covid-19. The Houston Methodist Hospital moved to dismiss the case.
Bridges and her staff claimed that the Covid-19 vaccines used in the US were “experimental and dangerous” and that it was “wrong” to be terminated for refusing to vaccinate.
The privately owned Houston Methodist Hospital countered, saying that not only are Bridges’ claims untrue, but that workers are protected from dismissal under Texas law only if they refuse to commit a criminal act that results in criminal prosecution.
Obtaining a Covid-19 vaccine is not an illegal act and will not be prosecuted.
The judge agreed to the Houston Methodist Hospital. Hughes admonished Bridges’ analogy that her threat of dismissal in this case was like “forced medical attempts during the Holocaust.”
Judge Hughes called this claim “objectionable” and said Bridges will not be coerced.
“Methodist tries to save lives without giving them … COVID-19,” wrote Hughes in dismissing the lawsuit.
“It’s a choice made to make employees, patients, and their families safer. Bridges is free to choose to accept or decline a COVID-19 vaccine; But if she refuses, she just has to work somewhere else. ”
Jared Woodfill, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said an appeal is awaited.
CHANDA KHANNA / AFP via Getty Images
Pharmacy student Jason Rodriguez prepares Pfizer vaccines on April 15, 2021 at the Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center in Miami, Florida, Florida International University, Florida Memorial University, Miami Dade College, and University of Miami. Through this partnership, Florida residents as well as overseas and international students can register for a COVID vaccine appointment through our online portal. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP via Getty Images)
“Employment shouldn’t be made conditional on your willingness to serve as a human guinea pig,” Woodfill said in a statement from CNN subsidiary KPRC.
“What is shocking is that many of my clients were on the front lines treating COVID positive patients at the 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, the Methodist Hospital gives them a pink slip of paper and condemns them to bankruptcy. ”
The hospital said “the plaintiffs falsely claimed that the COVID-19 vaccines were not safe”.
“With more than 300 million doses administered in the United States alone, the vaccines have been shown to be extremely safe,” said the Houston Methodist.
“Both positive cases and hospital admissions continue to decline across the country, demonstrating that vaccines help protect our community.”
Bridges and the 116 other plaintiffs represent less than 0.5% of the Houston Methodist staff – 24,947 of them have already been vaccinated, the Houston Methodist said.
The judge also recently denied plaintiffs’ motion for a restraining order to prevent the Houston Methodist from suspending employees who refused to be vaccinated.
“The public’s interest in a hospital that can care for patients during a pandemic far outweighs protecting the vaccination preferences of 116 employees,” the judge wrote.
“The plaintiffs not only endanger their own health; They endanger the health of doctors, nursing staff, auxiliary staff, patients and their families. ”
In December, the Federal Equal Opportunities Commission announced that companies could legally require their employees to return to work and that new employees would be vaccinated against Covid-19. The two exceptions that companies must allow are religious reasons and a disability.
CNN’s Ben Tinker and Alison Kosik contributed to this report.
