Washington, D.C., can no longer require its city government workers to be vaccinated fully against COVID-19 as an employment requirement, a judge ruled this week.
The decision strikes down the mandate implemented by Mayor Muriel Bowser earlier this year that required government workers to have a complete course of vaccination and the booster shot without an alternative test-out option. The mandate was one of the strictest vaccine requirements for local government employees nationwide and applied to more than 30,000 workers employed by the district.
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“A vaccine mandate is not an everyday exercise of power,” wrote Judge Maurice Ross in his 17-page ruling issued on Thursday. “It is instead a significant encroachment into the life — and health — of an employee. It is strikingly unlike any other workplace regulations typically imposed, as it ‘cannot be undone at the end of the workday.’ Thus, there is an expectation that a vaccine mandate must come from a legislative body.”
As a result, the city can no longer enforce the mandate, and any disciplinary actions that were taken due to noncompliance must be reversed, per the ruling.
The ruling comes after the D.C. Police Union and four individual officers sued Bowser in February over the mandate, arguing she had exceeded her authority as mayor. Ross sided with the officers in his Thursday ruling, noting such a mandate would have to be passed by the Council of the District of Columbia rather than through an executive order.
Ross also struck down arguments from Bowser’s office that the vaccine mandate protected against occupational hazards, ruling that COVID-19 “is a risk that can occur in many workplaces” but is not “an occupational hazard in most.”
The D.C. Police Union praised the decision, deeming it a “significant victory” that will ensure officers are not required to receive the vaccine “against their will.”
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“Had the Mayor just engaged the Union in good faith bargaining, we would have reached a reasonable compromise that protected everyone’s interests,” Gregg Pemberton, the chairman of the D.C. Police Union, said. “Now, all of our members can go back to do the necessary work of trying to protect our communities from crime and violence without unlawful threats of discipline and termination.”
The district has implemented a variety of vaccine mandates over the last year, including a citywide mandate to enter indoor businesses that lasted about a month and was lifted early this year. District of Columbia Public Schools has also imposed a vaccine mandate for students this year, requiring school-age children to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before attending in-person classes next week.
