Two firefighters in Beverly Hills, Calif., are suing the city and Los Angeles County over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, calling it forced “experimental gene modification.”
Los Angeles’s vaccine mandate requires all healthcare workers and first responders to show proof of vaccination or apply for religious or medical exemptions.
The firefighters, Josh Sattley and Ettore Berardinelli Jr., accused the county of unfairly punishing them for requesting exemptions.
The city subjected the firefighters “to cross-examination designed to undermine their credibility and to pressure them, under threat of prosecution, to give up their religious freedom and get the shot,” the lawsuit says.
Sattley, in particular, said he applied for an exemption but was denied it.
He was then put on unpaid leave, according to the complaint, and was not given an opportunity to challenge the suspension.
Berardinelli received a temporary 30-day religious exemption, but he alleged the city retaliated against him by assigning him to a position that receives fewer calls.
“Firefighters and other first responders have served courageously throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” the firefighters’ attorney Scott Street said in a statement.
“They were on the front lines when others sheltered in place,” he added. “They earned the right to be heard but, in enforcing the County’s unlawful mandate, the City of Beverly Hills has largely ignored them and put politics before facts.”
Keith Sterling, a spokesman for the city, defended the mandate by arguing “the work of emergency first responders puts them on the front lines of patient care.”
“While we have not yet seen the lawsuit, the City remains committed to protecting the health of our residents and visitors during this ongoing pandemic,” he said.
Sattley and Berardinelli named the city of Beverly Hills, Councilman John Mirisch, Los Angeles County, and County Health Officer Muntu Davis as defendants, according to the Los Angeles Times.
