CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Other City of Chicago workers are joining Chicago police in challenging COVID vaccine mandates from the Governor of Illinois and the Mayor of Chicago.
More than 130 city workers are part of the lawsuit, many of them Chicago firefighters, as well as employees from the city's Water and Transportation departments. Their lawyers argue that the vaccination mandates imposed by the city and state are unconstitutional.
In the lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Chicago, the lawsuit challenges an executive order signed Sept. 3 by Governor Pritzker requiring health care workers and certain state employees and contractors to be fully vaccinated, the Sun-Times reported.
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Additionally, the lawsuit pushes back on the city's mandate requiring all city workers to report their vaccination status on a city’s portal by Oct. 15, imposed by Mayor Lightfoot. The vaccine reporting mandate has already led to a legal battle between the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 and the City of Chicago.
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Lawyers in this lawsuit are pushing to have the mandates put on hold to prevent clients from being suspended or fired while the matter winds its way through federal court. The lawsuit said the city workers could possibly lose their jobs over their deeply held beliefs that they should not take the COVID-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, the federal judge at Thursday’s hearing urged both sides to tone down the volume of their comments on the issue.
The city is not yet commenting on the lawsuit.