Hawaiian Airlines Hit With Class Action Lawsuit by Employees Over Vaccine Mandate

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Hawaiian Airlines Vaccine Mandate Class Action Overview:

• Who: Seven Hawaiian Airlines employees have filed a class action lawsuit against their employer.
• Why: The employees seek to block the airline’s vaccine mandate for staff members.
• Where: The plaintiffs would like to represent staff members nationwide.

Hawaiian Airlines employees have filed a class action lawsuit against their employer in an effort to block the company’s vaccine mandate for staff.

In a class action complaint filed in a Hawaii federal court Jan 5., seven Hawaiian Airlines employees asked a judge to block the company’s vaccine mandate, Hawaii News Now reports.

The employees claim Hawaiian Air violates their religious rights and disability protections by denying all requests for medical or religious exemptions. 

It asked the court to order Hawaiian Airlines to stop terminating or placing on unpaid leave “any employee who has a religious or medical basis for seeking an accommodation and does not wish to be terminated, placed on unpaid leave or forced into retirement from the company.”

However, the airline hit back in a statement, saying it had granted reasonable exemptions to employees.

“We know that our vaccine requirement has been a challenging topic, but we have a responsibility to our fellow teammates, guests, and communities to keep each other safe — and vaccines are the most effective protection against the virus,” the company said.

The airline said out of nearly 7,000 employees, 270 workers had taken unpaid leave or quit to avoid being vaccinated.

United Employees Also Continue To Fight Against Vaccine Mandate

The news comes as United Airlines employees continue a fight against the airline’s vaccine mandate that requires all of its employees to be vaccinated—or else be put on unpaid leave—even if they have religious objections.

On Dec. 13, a panel of three judges on the Fifth Circuit court of appeal ruled 2-1 not to block United’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate as the plaintiffs’ lawsuit against their employer continues through the courts. 

The judges agreed with the reasons to deny the injunction previously laid out by a district court in November, which found the motion did not reach Fifth Circuit precedent that set a high bar for issuing injunctions.

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 mechanic, were granted religious exemptions by the airline based on their beliefs surrounding abortion and fetal cell lines and placed on temporary unpaid leave. 

The plaintiffs say the airline has made them face 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.

What do you think of the airlines’ vaccine mandates? Let us know in the comments! 

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