LOS ANGELES (CN) — A group of Los Angeles firefighters lost their bid to dodge a city mandate that they and all other city employees be fully vaccinated for Covid-19 unless they have a valid religious or medical exemption.
LA County Superior Court Judge Michael Linfield on Tuesday dismissed the case brought by the Firefighters4Freedom Foundation without leave to amend their claims.
In his ruling, Linfield considered as evidence — over the objections of the firefighters group — a number of reports that concluded that Covid-19 vaccinations are safe and effective in protecting the health and safety of the public, that the vaccines slow the spread of the disease, and that vaccinated people have fewer and less serious infections.
In response to the firefighters' argument that effectiveness of the vaccines isn't universally accepted, the judge said that just because some people may believe a falsehood, so that a fact is not "indisputably true," does not mean he couldn't consider that fact as evidence in his decision.
"In short, we do not consult the man on the Clapham bus to determine whether a fact is 'universally known,' Linfield said. "Rather, we look to the consensus of scientific, historical or professional opinion."
This past December, Linfield denied a request by the firefighters group to prevent the city from enforcing the mandate while the lawsuit was pending. A separate lawsuit by LA County firefighters over the county's vaccination mandate was recently sent to federal court where it awaits the county's response.
“The overwhelming majority of our city’s first responders have protected themselves, their colleagues, their loved ones and our community by complying with the vaccine mandate," LA City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a statement. "It’s time for everyone in the city family to step up. Cases are finally coming down. Getting vaccinated and boosted can help us continue this encouraging, and long overdue, trend.”
Tuesday's ruling marked the city's fifth win in lawsuits challenging the vaccination mandates since December, Feuer said.
In its lawsuit, Firefighters4Freedom disputed the effectiveness of the Covid vaccines, in particular in the context of the omicron surge this winter, and claimed the city's mandate violates their right to privacy as well as their due process rights. The group represents 125 of the 239 city firefighters who were placed on administrative leave for refusing to be vaccinated, according to the judge's ruling.
"The judge's decision speaks for itself," John Howard, a lawyer for the group, said in an email. "It is a political document, not a judicial opinion focused on applying the proper legal standard. And it confirms the concerns we had about Judge Linfield's ability to be impartial during the previous hearing in which he made similarly inflammatory comments."
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