Bellingham employees appeal judge dismissal over COVID-19 vaccine firings
Mar 4, 2025, 5:00 PM | Updated: 6:52 pm
A Moderna Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine is seen at a drugstore in Cypress, Texas, Sept. 20, 2023. On Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the updated COVID-19 vaccine was 54% effective at preventing symptomatic infection in adults. The shot became available last year as a replacement vaccine designed to better protects against more recent COVID variants. (File photo: Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)
(File photo: Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Eighteen former city employees have taken their case to federal court after suing Bellingham for being terminated over refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.
The plaintiffs — which include former police officers, firefighters, mechanics and Public Works Department staff — filed the lawsuit in the U.S. Western District Court in Seattle on June of 2024.
They argued the mandate violated their constitutional rights, including equal protection, privacy and the right to refuse the vaccine.
In their lawsuit, the former employees accuse former Mayor Seth Fleetwood of implementing a “scorched-earth” policy that intentionally caused “significant emotional distress.”
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Lawsuit dismissal
On August 19, attorneys for Fleetwood and the city filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing the case had “inherent legal and factual deficiencies.”
On January 21, U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Rothstein granted the motion to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning the lawsuit cannot be refiled. Rothstein also ruled against the plaintiffs’ claim that the Pfizer vaccine was an “investigational drug” and found no violation of constitutional or state law.
The plaintiffs filed an appeal on February 18, and their case is scheduled to be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals in April.
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