(Ken Silva, Headline USA) An FBI employee has sued the bureau for removing her from being considered for a position at an overseas embassy because she didn’t take the COVID-19 vaccine—even though there was no explicit requirement for her to be jabbed.
According to her lawsuit in federal court, Lucinda Davis began her career at the FBI as a scientific and technical photographer in 2013, before moving to Atlanta to become a photographer for the field office there.
At the end of 2020, Davis said she applied to become an administrative specialist at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.
The FBI offered her the position in March 2021, and she accepted it. But then, the bureau began pressuring her to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, she said.
In September 2021, she applied for an exemption on the grounds that her religious beliefs counsel her against all vaccinations. A month later, she said she received a “worldwide medical clearance.”
But as she was preparing for deployment, she received an email from nurse Gretchen Devins from FBI headquarters, asking about her vaccine status. Davis replied that she didn’t intend to get jabbed, according to her lawsuit.
Davis was then referred to another nurse, Robin Wood, who told her she’d need the COVID-19 vaccine to be deployed to Nairobi.
However, Nurse Wood’s emails repeatedly said that the vaccinations are “recommended,” but she didn’t say they were required.
Davis said she repeatedly inquired about the matter through numerous channels. By January 2022, she still hadn’t received a firm answer. “Nor had she received any response regarding whether the vaccinations for FBIHQ policy were actual requirements and stated as much, or whether they were instead just recommendations at that time,” her lawsuit said.
Then, an employee from the internal operations divisions sent her an email, asking Davis to sign a form stating that she was withdrawing from the position.
“Since Ms. Davis had no reason to withdraw from the position, she did not sign the [form],” her lawsuit said. “Ms. Davis explained she had not received the FBI policy on required versus recommended vaccinations, nor had she received the medical task list she was being told she failed to complete.”
Despite Davis refusing to withdraw, the FBI reposted the position with no communication to her.
Her lawsuit alleged that the FBI is violating Title VII rules against religious discrimination.
“Ms. Davis expressed to the FBI that her religious beliefs prohibited her from accepting the COVID-19 vaccine,” her lawsuit said. “The FBI failed to accommodate Ms. Davis, instead removing her from the position that she had rightfully earned.”
Davis seeks $250,000 in compensatory damages, including for back pay, forward pay and emotional distress.
The case number for her lawsuit, which was filed in October, is 1:23-cv-03103.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
