DETROIT (WWJ) -- Several dozen employees of the Henry Ford Health System are suing the Detroit-based hospital system over the mandate that requires all employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of this week.
Henry Ford announced the mandate back in late June, requiring all workers, volunteers and contractors in the hospital system to be vaccinated by Sept. 10. Under the mandate, those who are not vaccinated by Friday, will be facing a suspension, and those who don’t have the vaccine by Oct. 1 will be fired.
Many workers protested the idea when it was announced, and now a lawsuit filed in federal court earlier this week alleges the vaccine mandate violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, infringing on workers’ bodily autonomy and right to reject medical treatment.
More than 50 Henry Ford employees are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, many of whom are registered nurses. Henry Ford Health System, Wright Lassiter III, the president and CEO of the health system; Robert G. Riney, executive vice president and chief operating officer; and Chief Clinical Officer Adnan Munkarah were named as the defendants.
The 42-page lawsuit claims the vaccines “provide limited immunity” to COVID-19 and that Henry Ford is “using coercion” to get its employees to take the vaccine.
The lawsuit also claims over 13,000 people have died as a result of taking the vaccine nationwide, and more than 3,000,000 people have been injured. The plaintiffs cite data from the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
VAERS data comes with a disclaimer on its website, noting it “accepts reports of adverse events and reactions that occur following vaccination. Healthcare providers, vaccine manufacturers, and the public can submit reports to the system. While very important in monitoring vaccine safety, VAERS reports alone cannot be used to determine if a vaccine caused or contributed to an adverse event or illness. The reports may contain information that is incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental, or unverifiable.”
VAERS says there are specific limitations on how the data can be used scientifically and that data should always be interpreted with these limitations in mind.
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Henry Ford was the first of several Michigan-based health systems to announce vaccine mandates for employees.
At the time Henry Ford announced the mandate in June, Dr. Dennis Cunningham told WWJ he thought it was the right move.
“There is no question in my mind that every person who walks through our doors will find some comfort in knowing that their team care providers and everyone they come in contact with are vaccinated against COVID-19,” he said at the time.
In a statement released Wednesday, Henry Ford officials said they “remain confident that vaccination is the most important tool we have against the COVID-19 pandemic.”
A court hearing is scheduled for Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit.