A federal judge on Thursday denied a restraining order that would have blocked vaccine mandates for up to 125 South Carolina city employees.
Tom Fernandez and his firm Fernandez Law represented the plaintiffs, 100 of whom are the first responders who filed a lawsuit against the cities of Charleston and North Charleston, Charleston County, and the St. Johns Fire District for the injunctions .
“They felt it was nothing less than government coercion to get vaccinated,” Fernández told The Epoch Times. “We filed a lawsuit in state court claiming its constitutional protections. They didn’t want the vaccine. They believed it was their religious right to reject it. They believed that it was their right to freedom of expression, the right to privacy and their right to bodily autonomy so as not to be vaccinated ”.
Judge David Norton of the US District Court in South Carolina said in a statement that it is not the court’s role to impose policies on employers that would “strike a balance between the competing interests of a pandemic that has affected not only to this state or country, but to the world, for almost two years.
“The items he made on his order yesterday were basically late night news talking points,” Fernandez said. “They had no facts. There was nothing substantive. Basically, ‘COVID is an emergency and the hospitals are full. There are no ventilators available and the ICUs have no more beds available. ‘
Fernandez said they presented the court with data from local hospitals showing that COVID-19 infections are declining across the state and nation, with less than half of ventilators in use, and of those, only 7 percent were being used by COVID-19 patients.
The judge chose those talking points about constitutional protections for police officers and firefighters, Fernandez said.
Initially, city employees are required to get vaccinated by November 5, but North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey extended it until November 19 after the ruling.
“This is essential to provide a safe work environment for city employees and to provide safe and efficient services to our citizens,” said Summey. “The city is hopeful that some plaintiffs, after reading Judge Norton’s order, now wish to comply with the vaccination policy to retain employment.”
Many of the employees Fernandez has spoken with, he said, “are sticking around.”
“We have mayors who think that it will only be a handful of police and firefighters who will be fired,” Fernández said. “They’re going to suddenly discover on the first day that a large percentage of their department is missing.”
