Hospital employees who were told they must get COVID vaccine or lose their jobs say they'll bring their case to the Supreme Court after federal judge ruled against them

  • Unvaccinated workers plan to continue appeals after federal courts ruled against them over the weekend all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court
  • Houston Methodist hospital system was the first in nation to require all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 
  • More than 170 employees suspended for failing to get vaccinated by June 6 deadline of which 117 joined lawsuit against hospital 
  • Other hospital systems around the country, including in New York and Indiana, have set similar requirements for staff to get vaccinated 

Unvaccinated employees at Houston Methodist hospital system say they plan to bring their lawsuit against their employer to the U.S. Supreme Court, after their bid to have a vaccine mandate at work thrown out was ruled against by a federal judge.

The hospital system suspended 178 employees for two weeks without pay starting last week after they failed to get vaccinated.

ADVERTISEMENT

The system set a June 6 deadline for all employees to get vaccinated back in April or risk termination. 

In a stinging defeat, a federal judge bluntly ruled over the weekend that if employees of Houston Methodist, they can go work elsewhere.

But the fight isn't over yet and the staffers said they are prepared to take their case all the way to the highest court in the land.

Unvaccinated workers plan to continue appeals after federal courts ruled against them over the weekend all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Pictured: A rally protesting the vaccine requirements was held outside of Houston Methodist's Baytown location, June 7
A group of 117 employees sued the hospital for their vaccine requirements, but a federal judge threw out their case over the weekend. Pictured: People march past Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital in Baytown after a mandate requiring workers to get a shot

Jennifer Bridges, a nurse at the hospital who gained attention for her vocal opposition to the mandate, was leading the group of 117 suing the hospital. 

She is steadfast in her belief that it's wrong for her employer to force hospital workers like her to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or say goodbye to their jobs. 

'This is only the beginning. We are going to be fighting for quite a while,' Bridges said.

But that's a losing legal argument so far. 

'Methodist is trying to do their business of saving lives without giving them the COVID-19 virus,' U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes wrote in dismissing the lawsuit over the vaccine requirement.

'It is a choice made to keep staff, patients and their families safer. Bridges can freely choose to accept or refuse a COVID-19 vaccine; however, if she refuses, she will simply need to work somewhere else.'

In December, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that employers could legally set vaccination requirements for their employees.

Bridges, 39, and her coworkers are set to be fired if they do not get vaccinated by June 22. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Hospital CEO Marc Bloom wrote in an email last week that at least 27 suspended workers had decided to get vaccinated after they were suspended.

Marc Bloom (pictured), CEO of the hospital system, released a statement saying he stands by the decision to make employees get vaccinated

'It is unfortunate that today's milestone of Houston Methodist becoming the safest hospital system in the country is being overshadowed by a few disgruntled employees,' Bloom wrote.

'I know that today may be difficult for some who are sad about losing a colleague who's decided to not get vaccinated.'

'We only wish them well and thank them for their past service to our community, and we must respect the decision they made.'

The hospital system already requires all employees to receive the flu shot every year. 

Houston Methodist also offered a $500 cash incentive to all employees who received the vaccine.

'As health care workers we must do everything possible to keep our patients safe and at the center of everything we do,' said Bloom in another email to employees.

'By choosing to be vaccinated, you are leaders - showing our colleagues in health care what must be done to protect our patients, ourselves, our families and our communities.'

The hospital system first told its administrative staff and new hires to get vaccinated by mid-April before extending the deadline to early June.

Two employees chose to leave the hospital system instead of getting vaccinated at the time.

Employees who have a religious or health exemption for receiving the vaccine had until May 3 to apply for a waiver.

According to the Washington Post, 285 employees were given exemptions for medical reasons, and 332 received medical deferrals to receiving the vaccine.

ADVERTISEMENT

On June 7, suspended workers led a demonstration outside the hospital,  protesting the vaccine mandate. 

Jennifer Bridges (pictured), 29, who was among the suspended, is leading 117 employees in a lawsuit against the hospital

The Houston Methodist employees have likened their situation to medical experiments performed on unwilling victims in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, which a judge later called reprehensible.

Allison K Hoffman, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, also agreed that said claims 'are bordering on absurd.' 

Bridges says that she does not have confidence in the vaccine's safety, and has claimed that she has seen patients and co-workers have severe reactions to receiving it. 

'No one should be forced to put something into their body if they're not comfortable with it,' Bridges said during the protest.

Bridges and the group of employees are being represented by Jared Woodfill from the Houston-based Woodfill Law Firm.

Woodfill told KHOU that his firm filed a declaration action, asking the court to declare the hospital's orders illegal.

He argues that the vaccine is an experimental product, and that it should not be legal to force employees to receive it.

'[The vaccine] that's been on the market for less than a year. And yes, it's being used under EUA, but at the same time, that is experimental by definition,' he said.

'You can't fire someone for refusing to do something illegal, and if you look at federal law, it makes it very clear that it's illegal to force someone to participate in a vaccine trial.'

Hospital systems in Washington, D.C., Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania and most recently New York, have followed Houston Methodist and have also gotten pushback.

ADVERTISEMENT

NewYork-Presbyterian and Indiana University Health, India are each requiring all its employees be fully vaccinated by September 1. 

So far, just over 60 percent of its 34,000 employees have been vaccinated, spokesman Jeff Swiatek said.

Some employees in Indianapolis on Saturday protested the requirement.

Kasey Ladig, an intensive care nurse and outpatient coordinator in the bone marrow transplant unit at IU Health, said she quit the job she loved the day the policy was announced.

'I would love to hear something other than: "We trust the science,"' Ladig said. 

'It was a huge red flag. I didn't feel comfortable getting it.'