Ruling: Can’t fire unvaccinated while mandate is challenged
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/10/2021 (1795 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s largest health system cannot fire or otherwise discipline north Louisiana employees who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 while the mandate’s legality is in court, a state appeals court says.
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal in Shreveport ruled Thursday, just a day before Ochsner Health’s Friday deadline for its 32,000 employees across Louisiana and in a small part of Mississippi to be fully vaccinated or face dismissal.
State District Judge Craig Marcotte had thrown out a lawsuit brought Oct. 5 by dozens of employees at Ochsner’s Shreveport location. The three-judge appellate panel ordered him to hold a hearing on the mandate and to block enforcement until its legality is decided.
Ochsner did not immediately comment Friday morning.
Although the 2nd Circuit’s rulings do not affect district courts outside north Louisiana, Thursday’s ruling is a signal to businesses statewide that vaccine mandates are probably illegal, said Jimmy Faircloth, attorney for some of the workers who filed the suit.
That’s because temporary restraining orders can be made only if the people asking for them have a good chance of winning, he said.
However, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal, which covers 21 southwest and central parishes, on Wednesday rejected a request for a similar order and reinstatement of a lawsuit against Ochsner Lafayette General Health.
“We find no error in the trial court’s ruling,” the 3rd Circuit panel wrote.
Faircloth said he has asked the Louisiana Supreme Court to overturn District Judge Thomas Frederick’s dismissal of that case.
The lawsuits argue that Louisiana’s constitution and laws guarantee citizens a right to decide their medical treatments.
“It is unlawful for an employer to threaten to fire an employee for exercising a legal right, or to require an employee to forego the exercise of a legal right as a condition of employment,” the Shreveport lawsuit states.
___
Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.
