Federal judge dismisses lawsuit by Houston hospital employees opposed to mandates Covid-19 vaccinations

Judge dismisses lawsuit by Houston hospital employees over Covid-19 vaccinations The lead plaintiff, Jennifer Bridges, likened her employer's vaccination requirement to forced medical experimentation during the Holocaust. NBC News

A federal court in Texas on Saturday dismissed a lawsuit by 117 hospital employees who challenged their employer's vaccination requirement.

In the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas' written decision, Judge Lynn N. Hughes said lead plaintiff Jennifer Bridges, a nurse, and 116 other Houston Methodist Hospital employees who challenged the requirement, had no case.

The employees' lawyer, Jared Woodfill responded in a statement Saturday, "This is just one battle in a larger war to protect the rights of employees to be free from being forced to participate in a vaccine trial as a condition for employment."

He said they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court "if necessary."

On Tuesday, hospital officials said they had suspended 178 employees who refused to be inoculated.

Hughes addressed the plaintiffs' arguments one-by-one. On the vaccination requirement violating due process, she wrote, "Texas does not recognize this exception to at-will employment."

On their argument that the requirement would force workers to break the law: "Receiving a COVID-19 vaccination is not an illegal act, and it carries no criminal penalties."

"She [Bridges] is refusing to accept inoculation that, in the hospital's judgement, will make it safer for their workers and patients in Methodist's care," Hughes wrote.

On their claim they were being coerced: "This is not coercion. Methodist is trying to do their business of saving lives without giving them the COVID-19 virus. It is a choice made to keep staff, patients and their families safer." ...