Kaiser Permanente Asks Judge To Dismiss Workers ‘Bizarre’ Class Action Claims Over Vaccine Mandate

Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Mandate Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente is asking a federal judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed by workers upset over its vaccine mandate.
• Why: Kaiser claims the workers’ allegations are “bizarre” and “conspiratorial.”
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

Kaiser Permanente has filed a motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed by employees upset with its vaccine mandate, calling the claims “bizarre” and “conspiratorial.” 

Kaiser argues workers rely primarily on a misguided theory that the company is a “state actor” that “caused” federal officials to impose vaccine mandates. 

The plaintiffs, represented by the United KP Freedom Alliance, have not shown any credible basis for these claims, Kaiser says, instead simply “identifying only routine interactions between Kaiser Permanente and officials regarding salutary efforts to combat the third leading cause of death in the United States in 2020.”

Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Mandate Violates Worker Rights, Claims Class Action

Kaiser announced its vaccine mandate in August, at which time workers were told they would need to either be vaccinated by Sept. 30 or be granted an exemption.

The mandate allows Kaiser Permanente workers who were granted an exemption to bypass getting vaccinated by submitting to bi-weekly COVID-19 tests, reports Law360. Employees not vaccinated or exempt would be placed on unpaid leave starting Sept. 30 and face termination on Dec. 1, the company said. 

Kaiser Permanente workers filed a complaint in response to the mandate in October, claiming it violated their personal liberties protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, splits employees into two separate classes, and violates their personal autonomy and bodily integrity.

Kaiser argues, however, that the mandate was put in place to protect workers from COVID-19 and that blocking it would “needlessly put Kaiser Permanente’s 12.5 million members and 216,000 employees at increased risk of serious disease and death.”

Further, Kaiser says the workers are attempting to prevent the company from using “the most effective tool available to combat the most significant public health crisis the world has faced in generations.”

In addition to violating the Fourteenth Amendment, workers claim Kaiser is guilty of invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other things. 

Workers are asking for an order barring Kaiser from enforcing the vaccine mandate, as well as damages and fees. 

United Airlines employees filed a similar class action lawsuit in September, arguing the company’s vaccine mandate is discriminatory and violates their civil rights. 

Do you believe Kaiser Permanente is violating the rights of its employees by enforcing a vaccine mandate? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by John Wayne Howard and Andrew Nagurney of JW Howard/Attorneys Ltd. 

The Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Mandate Class Action Lawsuit is United KP Freedom Alliance v. Kaiser Permanente, et al., Case No. 3:21-cv-07894, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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