Vaccine Mandate Litigation Win

On the eve of a preliminary injunction hearing in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the largest hospital system in Massachusetts came to us for help. The case was brought by eight named plaintiffs on behalf of approximately 230 employees, challenging the denial of their exemptions from the hospital’s vaccine mandate. The plaintiffs claimed violations of the American with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act, and sought a preliminary injunction to stop the termination of their employment for failure to comply with the vaccine mandate. Our cross-departmental team of attorneys went into overdrive to prepare opposition papers to the preliminary injunction motion, including declarations from lead doctors in formulating the hospital’s vaccine policy, establishing the medical exemption process, and one of the religious exemption committee members.

A few days later, the District Court conducted a two-hour in-person injunction hearing at which only counsel of record and the eight named plaintiffs were permitted to attend in person, with all attendees masked except when presenting to the Court. The Court issued a decision from the bench denying the preliminary injunction motion, finding that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims, failed to demonstrate irreparable harm, and that the public policy weighed heavily in favor of the public and the hospital in protecting its medically vulnerable patient population, staff and visitors, and its public image of providing a safe environment for the public to seek medical care. The plaintiffs filed an emergency appeal to the 1st Circuit and the to the US Supreme Court, and lost in both forums. The case continues in the District Court with 230+ plaintiffs.