(The Center Square) – The Silent Majority Foundation has filed a lawsuit against state Attorney General Bob Ferguson and his office on behalf of 10 former AGO employees who lost their jobs over the AGO’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement for retaining employment.
The lawsuit argues that the constitutional rights and religious freedoms of those former state employees were violated.
“They had a return-to-work element, and that included a vaccination policy, and it required an individual receive the vaccine series or seek accommodations through religious or medical exemption requests,” SMF founder and attorney Pete Serrano told The Center Square in a phone interview.
“These plaintiffs sought religious exemptions, and all were denied,” he continued. “The fact is the accommodations weren’t offered. Some of these folks didn’t even have their interactive process to plead their case.”
The lawsuit alleges nine violations of law including “wrongful termination against public policy” and “deprivation of religious freedom.”
Two of the plaintiffs applied for medical exemptions after their religious accommodations were denied. According to the complaint, the medical requests were also denied.
“We believe there were a handful of other folks that did receive accommodations, and if some were granted accommodations and others weren’t, that’s the fundamental question,” Serrano explained.
In August 2021, Gov. Jay Inslee issued a directive mandating that all state employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. On May 11, 2023, the governor rescinded that directive.
“Let’s play the game the governor had the authority to institute vaccine mandates and policies, but no such authority exists within the AG’s Office,” Serrano said in explaining why the lawsuit targets the AGO.
“If we can’t hit the governor because he’s shielded under his emergency powers, is there somewhere else in the government?” he asked. “This seemed to be it.”
Serrano ran an unsuccessful bid for attorney general this year, but tells The Center Square the lawsuit was already in the works.
Ferguson was elected Washington’s next governor in last month’s general election. He will assume office on Jan. 15, 2025.
“It’s not about sour grapes,” he said. “It’s something we felt was important to pursue because we believe that because the governor’s office is protected under emergency powers, where else could we go, and the attorney general seemed to be the most voluminous punch we could take.”
AGO spokesperson Brionna Aho emailed a response to a request for comment.
“We adopted our vaccination policy based on CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and DOH [Department of Health] recommendations, and in collaboration with our labor partners, who represent 85 percent of our employees,” she wrote. “We have a track record of success against the Silent Majority’s legal challenges.”