Six United Airlines employees filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the airline over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, claiming the policy discriminates against them.
A class action complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas-Fort Worth Division, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. The airline announced in August that all of its employees would be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 27 unless approved for a religious or medical exemption. If an employee failed to do so, they would be placed on temporary leave starting Oct. 2.
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Two of the six employees requested medical exemptions, while the other four requested religious exemptions stating they believed the vaccine was “derived using aborted fetal tissue,” according to the lawsuit. All six employees have been placed on unpaid leave until after having their exemption requests granted, the lawsuit says.
“United’s actions have left Plaintiffs with the impossible choice of either taking the COVID-19 vaccine, at the expense of their religious beliefs and their health, or losing their livelihoods,” the suit reads.
The plaintiffs are David Sambrano, a captain; David Castillo, an aircraft technician; Kimberly Hamilton, a station operations representative; Debra Jennefer Thal Jonas, a customer service representative; Genise Kincannon, a flight attendant; and Seth Turnbough, a captain.
The Washington Examiner reached out to United Airlines for comment.
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Jonas said she was concerned about getting the vaccine because she is allergic to eggs and penicillin. She was also concerned because she already had and recovered from COVID-19 and was hesitant about “the risk posed by receiving a vaccine which aims to create antibodies.”
Turnbough said in the suit he avoided getting vaccinated because he has multiple sclerosis and his neurologist advised him not to receive the vaccine.
