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Air Force COVID vaccine discrimination class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Nine service members sued the U.S. Air Force.
- Why: They say the government violated their constitutional rights by stripping their duties when they refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds.
- Where: The case was filed in Texas federal court.
The U.S. Air Force violated service members rights when it stripped them of their duties and denied them promotions after they refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine due to religious reasons, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Nine service members filed the class action lawsuit May 27 in a Texas federal court, alleging violations of religious freedoms. The lawsuit names the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin and Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall as defendants.
According to the service members, the Air Force says it offers medical, administrative and religious accommodations to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
But, in reality, the Air Force only gives exemptions to service members with medical or administrative requests and denies religious accommodation requests unless the requester is already leaving the Air Force, they say.
Two of the plaintiffs say their religious beliefs prohibit them from receiving any vaccine tested or produced using aborted fetal cell lines, according to the class action. Others say they believe the mRNA technology used in some COVID-19 vaccines violates God’s creation of the human genome.
Two of the service members claim they received medical exemptions to the vaccination mandate because of allergies to two ingredients in the vaccine, but both say they had their medical exemptions revoked after the Air Force deemed their allergy test results insufficient.
Air Force vaccine class action alleges promotions, income lost
The Air Force service members said they have lost promotions and income due to the consequences of not having the vaccine, according to the class action.
“Plaintiffs have lost promotions that had already been announced, received official discipline, been barred from training opportunities and placed in a no-pay status to name only a few kinds of the harm they have already endured,” the lawsuit states.
The Air Force service members sued for violations of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and seek to represent all Air Force service members who have submitted a religious accommodation request to the vaccine mandate.
This is one of a number of class action lawsuits filed against the Air Force for similar reasons. In May, the Air Force asked a Georgia federal court to decline to certify a class of service members claiming they should be religiously exempt from having to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
What do you think of the allegations against the Air Force? Let us know in the comments.
The Air Force service members are represented by Cristina M. Squiers, Gene C. Schaerr and Annika M. Boone of Schaerr Jaffe LLP and Kelly J. Shackelford, Jeffrey C. Mateer, David J. Hacker, Michael D. Berry, Roger Byron and Jordan E. Pratt of First Liberty Institute.
The Air Force Vaccine Mandate Class Action Lawsuit is Spence et al. v. Austin et al., Case No. 4:22-cv-00453, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
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