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United Airlines Vaccine Mandate Class Action Overview:
- Who: United Airlines workers had asked a judge to grant an injunction stopping their employer from enforcing a vaccine mandate that puts those with religious exemptions on unpaid leave.
- Why: Workers claim United is violating their rights by enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate that places them on unpaid leave if they do not comply. The judge has refused to grant an injunction.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Texas federal court.
United Airlines can continue to enforce its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, requiring all employees to be vaccinated or else go on unpaid leave, regardless of religious exemptions, a judge has ruled, doubling down on an earlier decision.
U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman filed an order Nov. 19 stating that he stood by his previous decision not to grant a preliminary injunction that would force United Airlines to allow its unvaccinated workers to come back to work or be paid.
United employees on Nov. 11 filed a request for reconsideration of the decision, stating Pittman had “overlooked” the harm they would suffer, however Pittman says he does not agree, and his decision is in line with previous decisions on similar cases.
“Bound by precedent, the Court again concludes that Plaintiffs failed to show they would suffer irreparable harm from lost bidding opportunities while on unpaid leave,” he wrote.
United Airlines announced its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its employees back in August.
A group of workers seeking religious and medical exemptions responded by filing a class action lawsuit against United in September.
The five plaintiffs named in the suit, which includes a pilot, flight attendant and a mechanic, were granted religious exemptions by the airline based on their beliefs surrounding abortion and fetal cell lines, and were placed on temporary unpaid leave.
The plaintiffs say the airline has faced them with the “impossible choice” of choosing between getting the vaccine or being placed on unpaid leave without benefits.
Workers argue the mandate was discriminatory and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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The employees are represented by John C. Sullivan of SL Law PLLC, Robert C. Wiegand and Melissa J. Swindle of Stewart Wiegand & Owens PC and Mark R. Paoletta, Gene C. Schaerr, Brian J. Field, Kenneth A. Klukowski, Joshua J. Prince and Annika M. Boone of Schaerr Jaffe LLP.
The United Airlines Vaccine Mandate Class Action Lawsuit is Sambrano et al. v. United Airlines Inc., Case No. 4:21-cv-01074, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
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