LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A lawsuit by more than 20 current and former Los Angeles School Police Department members who allege they were wrongfully denied religious exemptions to the district's mandatory employee coronavirus vaccination mandate should be dismissed, LAUSD attorneys argue in new court papers.
The plaintiffs in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit are a mix of school safety officers, police officers, police detectives, senior police officers, a lieutenant, a sergeant and a school safety officer sergeant. They seek compensatory damages as well as reinstatement to their previous positions if they were fired.
Those suing are Jose Cardenas, Shawn Workman, Angel Frias, Jared Gilmore, Juan Romo, Leopoldo Gil, Aaron Gray, Marc Salazar, Sergio Salas, Branden Hamada, Harold Salazar, Clifford Herrera, Sally Moctezuma, Andrea Magana, Jose Avalos, Donyann Morgan, Christopher Moreno, Shaun Luciano, Cheron Bartee, Melanie Guevara, Timothy Chavez and Joseph Rios.
"The medical consensus at this point in time is that being vaccinated against COVID-19 does not preclude one from acquiring COVID-19, but rather lessens the symptoms for the unvaccinated," the suit states. "The district disregarded, out of hand, all religious beliefs, and enforced their policy to the detriment of the plaintiffs."
However, LAUSD attorneys argue in their court papers filed June 16 seeking dismissal of the suit that, among other things, it would be difficult to allow law enforcement officers to work remotely because they deal with sensitive information, including a person's criminal history, that cannot be accessed from home or taken to a residence. The LAUSD lawyers also maintain it would place an undue burden on the district to have unvaccinated workers in district facilities.
The LAUSD lawyers also state that plaintiffs Avalos, Magana, Moreno, Rios, Romo, the Salazars and Workman are still LAUSD employees who hold positions of police officer, detective or sergeant and decided to get vaccinated, so they therefore did not experience adverse employment actions.
In August 2021, the Board of Education adopted a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for employees for those working in district facilities.
"Logically, it was determined that law enforcement is not a remote position and certainly cannot be conducted in that manner 100% of the time," the district's lawyers state in their court papers.
According to the suit, each plaintiff submitted to the district a request for an exemption and accommodation from the district's vaccination policy and provided the requested supporting information and documentation, but all were denied by the district "in summary fashion."
The meetings to discuss whether each plaintiff was entitled to an exemption and an accommodation each lasted about 15 minutes, the suit filed in January 2022 states. Some plaintiffs gave in and obtained the vaccination because they could not afford to lose their job and still support their family, so they are suing because they were coerced to waive and give up their rights, the suit states.
Other plaintiffs were fired and still more are on medical leave, but have been told that they will be terminated when they return if they are still unvaccinated, according to the suit.
A hearing on the district's dismissal motion is scheduled Aug. 30 before Judge Jill Feeney.
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