Judge Rejects Hawaiian Airlines Employees’ Bid to Block Vaccine Mandate

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Hawaiian Airlines Vaccine Mandate Class Action Overview:

• Who: Seven Hawaiian Airlines employees filed a class action lawsuit against their employer.
• Why: The employees sought to block the airline’s vaccine mandate for staff members, but their bid for a temporary restraining order on the airline’s mandate was rejected Feb. 2.
• Where: The plaintiffs were seeking to represent staff members nationwide.

A bid to block a Hawaiian Airlines’ mandate requiring employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 or face termination did not fly with a Hawaii federal judge this week. 

In an order posted Feb. 2 in a Hawaii federal court, U.S. District Judge Jill A. Otake rejected the seven Hawaiian Airlines workers’ attempt to get a temporary restraining order placed on the airline. 

Otake said both that the workers had failed to show that they face irreparable harm or that they were likely to succeed in their lawsuit.

In the lawsuit, seven airline employees argued that Hawaiian Air violates their religious rights and disability protections by denying all requests for medical or religious exemptions. 

Plaintiff Riki O’Hailpin, a flight attendant for the airline for 24 years, said she did not want to take the vaccine because she believes that her body is a “temple of the Holy Spirit and that God had directed her not to take the vaccine” 

Her application for reasonable accommodation of her religious beliefs was denied. 

Judge Says Hawaiian Airlines Did Not Force Employees To Get Vaccinated

Otake shot down the workers’ argument that the airline placed them in a lose-lose situation, forcing them to either get vaccinated at the expense of their conscience or lose their jobs.

She said other courts had rejected this argument, noting Hawaiian Airlines did not force its employees to get vaccinated.

“All of Hawaiian’s employees were subject to the same vaccination requirement as a condition of their employment,” she said. “A small percentage of employees, including plaintiffs, elected not to receive the vaccination and so have made a choice. Thus, injunctive relief is not warranted based on this claimed harm. Hawaiian did not coerce plaintiffs to do anything.”

Previously, 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. 

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

The employees are represented by John C. Sullivan of SL Law PLLC and James Hochberg of James Hochberg AAL.

The Hawaiian Airlines Vaccine Mandate Class Action Lawsuit is O’Hailpin v. Hawaiian Airlines Inc., Case No. 1:22-cv-00007, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii.

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