Rolovich v. Washington State
Former Washington State University Head Football Coach Nick Rolovich has filed a lawsuit against the school, arguing that he was unjustly fired on Oct. 19, 2021 for refusing to follow the state’s vaccine mandate for public employees.
Technically, Rolovich was terminated “for cause”by Athletic Director Patrick Chun for not following the mandate, meaning he would not be entitled to any monies due under the terms of his contract, an amount that totaled approximately $9 million. Rolovich’s prior request for a religious exemption in lieu of receiving the vaccine, which he allegedly sought based on his Catholic beliefs, was denied by WSU prior to his termination.
This constituted a breach of contract, as well as violations of both the United States Constitution and Washington’s Constitution, according to the plaintiff.
The named defendants included Chun, Governor jay Inslee, and WSU.
Among the various arguments put forth by Rolovich in the complaint filed in mid-November were:
First, that nothing in his contract “contemplates a scenario where WSU could claim ‘just cause’ to terminate him because he refused to violate his religious faith, conscience, or bodily integrity.”
Second, that “[u]nlike other WSU football coaches,” Rolovich’s agreement “did not include provisions requiring him to follow state and federal health and safety guidelines.”
Third, that WSU “willfully and improperly withheld wages” from Rolovich.
Fourth, that the governor and WSU “mandated” that he “accept an experimental vaccine.”
Fifth, that WSU “established a blind review process for exemption requests,” which led to a “determination” that his “religious beliefs were sincere and granted his request for a religious exemption.”
Sixth, that Chun “improperly inserted himself” into the “process,” leading WSU to overturn the “determination.”
Finally, that a “Stanford Public Health and Infectious Disease Expert” states that WSU “could have safely accommodated” him.
The full complaint can be viewed here: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23307430-rolovich-complaint
Doug Kerkering et al. v. Nike, Inc.
Various Nike employees are suing the company, claiming they suffered religious discrimination, medical discrimination, and battery because of Nike’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“Nike holds itself up as a diverse, equitable, and inclusive employer and has even developed reams of policies and procedures to guarantee religious freedom and privacy, but Nike ignored years of policy when it came to COVID-19,” according to the Health Freedom Defense Fund (HFDF), which is helping to bring the lawsuit.
Doug Kerkering, Wanda Rozwadowska, and Hannah Thibodo are the named plaintiffs in the case.
HFDF Attorney Scott Street claimed that “Nike displayed blatant disregard for its own privacy policies and violated state and federal law by denying religious and medical accommodations to those who sought them.”
The full complaint can be viewed here: https://healthfreedomdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Final-NIKE-complaint-Final.pdf
Mauer et al. v. NBA
Three former referees have filed a lawsuit against the NBA, alleging they were fired because they refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
Plaintiffs Kenny Mauer, Mark Ayotte and Jason Phillips filed the claim in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. The men claimed that the league improperly forced them to comply with the policy and then wrongly concluded their objections on religious grounds were meritless.
“Had the NBA not taken upon itself to force faith-based conscientious objectors to adhere to secular norms, none of plaintiffs’ complained-of injuries would have manifested,” according to the complaint. “In sum: Plaintiffs were persecuted.”
