The following does not constitute legal advice.
Can my employer require me to get the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of continued employment?
What a year ago sounded to our ears like horror stories out of the darkest corners of the third world is fast becoming a reality of our daily lives. It’s no secret that the COVID-19 vaccines were a rush job, flouting many of the regulatory hurdles ordinarily deemed necessary to test the safety and efficacy of new treatments. Many Americans, reasonably cautious about what they put in their bodies, are for the first time facing the difficult choice between their livelihoods and their ability to make their own decisions about their safety and welfare. Is there any legal recourse these people can seek?
The answer to this question is an unmitigated yes, though the road to success is not certain. The issues involved are somewhat complicated, but LRI believes there are sound and compelling constitutional and statutory reasons most employers are prohibited from terminating most employees for their choices to refrain from a medical treatment – especially one that has failed to comply with the preexisting FDA requirements, like every one of the vaccines presently available for immunization against COVID-19. In many cases, employers cannot even compel their employees to answer whether or not they have received a COVID-19 vaccination in the first place. Moreover, where the employee is protected, the law also provides protections from any kind of retaliatory harassment. LRI is prepared to defend those who face termination for the simple decision to make their own choices about medical treatment, and we have already succeeded in getting a variety of employers to back down on required vaccinations and to respect our clients’ rights. This is a nightmare that must be stopped, and those faced with compelled vaccinations are, with LRI’s help, the ones to stop it. By combining an approach of tested legal doctrine and creative solutions tailored to the individual client, we have been effective at blocking attempts at forced vaccinations and we believe we have a solid basis for blocking similar attempts in the future. We’ll look at some of those reasons and the scenarios in which they apply, below.