A Superior Court judge has denied a request from the Los Angeles Fire Department fire union seeking a preliminary injunction to delay enforcement of the city’s inoculation mandate.
The ruling is “a victory for public health and safety in Los Angeles,” emphasized city attorney Mike Feuer in a statement.
“The Court recognized the emergency in which we find ourselves and the damage that could have been caused by prohibiting the implementation of the vaccine mandate,” Feuer said. “Beyond this case, the presence of the highly contagious new variant here in Los Angeles underscores the importance of inoculating our first responders, in fact, vaccinating everyone.”
The firefighters union had filed a lawsuit in November asking for the inoculation mandate, which is scheduled to take effect on December 18, to be delayed to allow for proper bargaining procedures. The union wanted a preliminary court order preventing the execution of the mandate.
“The court determines that [United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112] it has not made the significant demonstration of irreparable harm necessary to prohibit a public entity from performing its duties, ”wrote Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary H. Strobel in her decision Friday.
Strobel later wrote: “The evidence also supports that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on city firefighters and has even resulted in the deaths of two of its members.”
A lawyer for the firefighters union had argued that the union did not oppose the mandate or the validity of the ordinance, but that the city had not bargained fairly.
The attorney, Dana Martínez, added that approximately 400 firefighters could receive unpaid leave by the end of this month. The union has a complaint with the City of Los Angeles Employee Relations Board and wanted a preliminary injunction until the dispute is resolved. The union alleges that the city has negotiated in bad faith regarding the mandate.
City workers have until Dec. 18 to seek exemptions from the mandate and argue why they cannot get vaccinated. If they don’t comply, they could receive an unpaid leave of absence and potentially lose their jobs.
Last month, Freddy Escobar, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, commented that the Los Angeles Fire Department could see a loss of resources and staff positions similar to budget cuts in the department during the economic downturn in Los Angeles. 2008.
The department is investigating an incident in which a firefighter “responded inappropriately” after receiving a letter to comply with the city’s inoculation mandate, a firefighter spokeswoman said Wednesday.
In September, a separate group of 500 firefighters filed a lawsuit against the city over its requirement that Los Angeles employees be inoculated against COVID-19.
City News Services contributed to this article.
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