Dallas denies requiring a COVID vaccine, but firefighter recruits find it's not so simple
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – The City of Dallas fired a new firefighter recruit and has had several others quit, according to the Dallas Fire Fighters Association union, because of a requirement they be vaccinated against COVID-19.
At a meeting on March 7, Dallas Fire Chief Dominique Artis denied the existence of any such requirement.
"Are you requiring COVID vaccines for your recruits?" asked Dallas City Council member Cara Mendelsohn during a meeting of the city's Public Safety Committee.
"No, we do not," said Artis.
"Are you requiring Covid vaccines for them to go through paramedic training?" she asked.
"We do not require," he responded.
"Is the school requiring Covid vaccines?" asked Mendelsohn.
"The school does not," said Artis.
The city more than two weeks later, though, sent a memo to council members clarifying the chief's comments.
Like many of its neighbors, Dallas requires all new firefighters to train and be certified as paramedics. It partners with Dallas College's Brookhaven campus to provide that training.
"While neither DFR nor Brookhaven requires the COVID-19 vaccine, the hospitals with which paramedic students must complete their clinical rotations do require the COVID-19 vaccine," read the memo written by deputy city manager Jon Fortune on March 25.
"If you ask the recruiters, 'Do I have to be vaccinated for Covid-19?' They're telling you, 'No'. That's not true. Once you're hired, you're in. During your orientation period, they're telling people, 'Now you have to be vaccinated for COVID," said Jim McDade, president of the Dallas Fire Fighters Association.
A handful of recruits in each class, he says, have been dropping out over the requirement. One, according to a city record provided by McDade, was fired.
"Member was terminated because he refused to get vaccinated for COVID-19," reads the report titled "Termination Action."
When asked about the record, a DFR spokesperson said it was not an official "final Termination Notice" but a termination checklist.
"The comments section contained a note indicating the reason for termination was 'a refusal to get vaccinated for COVID-19", which was inaccurate and listed in error. This error was subsequently corrected," wrote DFR spokesperson, Jason Evans, in response.
"DFR does not typically comment on personnel disciplinary proceedings, but the Department does not require the COVID-19 Vaccination as a term of employment," he wrote.
Vaccination status has only been an issue for new recruits who need to complete paramedic training, not those firefighters already certified.
While opinions may vary on whether the city should hire unvaccinated individuals as paramedics, McDade says losing the recruits after they've been hired is costing the city time and money it's already invested in them.
It's also a possible violation of the governor's executive order G-39, which states, "No governmental entity can compel any individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine."
According to Fortune's memo, the city's been unable to find any local paramedic training programs that don't require clinical rotations in hospitals, a problem other cities with unvaccinated recruits are discovering too.
"I've gotten phone calls from other unions, because they have people going through the exact same thing," said McDade.
The least the city can do, McDade says, is be honest about it.
At the most recent public safety committee meeting, Dallas Fire-Rescue addressed the need for new recruits.
It reported having 65 open positions for firefighters.
More than a quarter of its current force is also currently eligible for retirement.
In order to manage with its current staffing, the department says it's had to make some overtime shifts mandatory.