EVERETT — A federal appellate court ruled in favor of Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue on Tuesday in the case of eight firefighters, who were placed on unpaid leave by their department in 2021 when they refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds.
This decision upholds a lower court ruling that denies back pay, accrued vacation days and other benefits lost while on leave to the workers named in the lawsuit.
The four-year case stems from a decision in 2021 when Snohomish Fire & Rescue placed 11 firefighters on unpaid leave for not complying with Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Eight firefighters — David Petersen, Beau Watson, Jay Stickney, Evan Merritt, Kevin Gleason, Riley Korf, Norm Alan Peterson II and Ryan Stupey — filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in November 2022. Each obtained a religious exemption to the state mandate requiring vaccination for health care workers. But Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue, known in court documents as SRFR, placed them on indefinite unpaid leave, citing safety concerns.
The eight workers named in the lawsuit alleged the leave of absence was not a “lawful accommodation,” and they are entitled to compensation for “financial losses,” according to the complaint.
In January 2024, U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly granted summary judgment to Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue —known as SRFR in court documents — ruling the department was within its rights to deny the requested accommodation. A summary judgement is a judgement entered by a court in favor of one party without a full trial.
The eight plaintiffs appealed their case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments took place April 3 in Portland, where attorney Jennifer Kennedy argued the district court had “mishandled” the case and ignored evidence that the fire department could have reasonably accommodated the men without burden.
Evidence showed a clear case of discrimination, the original lawsuit said.
“They have a bona fide religious belief which conflicted with the employer’s policy, they placed their employer on notice of the conflict, the employer took adverse action against them.”
In considering its decision, The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to scrutinize the firefighters’ religious beliefs, assuming they set forth a prima facie case, according to court documents. However, they held that SRFR could not reasonably accommodate the firefighters without undue hardship. Prima facie indicates one believes there is adequate evidence to support a claim.
Court documents said SRFR showed it faced substantial burdens by accommodating the vaccine exemptions, including the health and safety of its firefighters and the public, the large number of firefighters seeking accommodations, the risk to operations, costs of widespread absences, potential loss of a lucrative contract and the risk of additional liability.
SRFR declined to comment Wednesday, Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue spokesperson Kaitlin King said in an email.
Lead counsel Jennifer Kennedy said in press release that this decision nullified Groff v. DeJoy, which instructed how lower courts should conduct the undue hardship analysis.
“The District admitted that COVID shots did not stop transmission, and knew its own safety protocols had worked to protect firefighters and the public,” Kennedy said. “Yet when our eight plaintiffs sought religious accommodation from its vaccination mandate, SRFR pulled them off duty and suspended them without pay.”
Court documents said SRFR provided medical evidence that showed how the proposed accommodations for the unvaccinated workers were inadequate.
“The Ninth Circuit has signaled that any employer can erase a worker’s religious rights simply by hiring an expert to brand him or her a ‘threat’ while ignoring the real-world facts,” Kennedy said. “That’s not what Groff requires.”
Kennedy said plaintiffs intend to appeal the ruling and take it to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. Currently, they are considering petitioning for a three-judge panel rehearing and asking for all the judges on the Ninth Circuit to hear the case.
Vaccines are safe and can help prevent severe illness from getting COVID-19, health officials say.
Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com; X: @JennaMillikan
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