Catholic fired for refusing COVID shot wins massive lawsuit



A Michigan woman who was fired after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine because of her "sincerely held" Catholic beliefs has just won a massive lawsuit.

On Friday, a Detroit jury awarded Lisa Domski nearly $13 million after she was terminated from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan on account of her refusal to take the shots. Of the $12.69 million she was awarded, $10 million was for punitive damages, $1.7 million for lost wages, and $1 million for noneconomic damages, Lawyer Monthly reported.

'This win isn’t just about compensation; it’s about standing up for employee rights.'

Domski, an IT specialist from the Detroit suburb of Wyandotte who worked for BCBS of Michigan for a total of 38 years, was fired in January 2022 after requesting a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate imposed at the company a few months earlier.

Around November 1, 2021, BCBS of Michigan announced that all employees, even those like Domski who were mostly working remotely, had to be vaccinated by December 8 or apply for a religious exemption.

Domski opted to apply for a religious exemption on account of what her lawsuit described as her "sincerely held religious beliefs." Without being permitted to have a lawyer present, she was then grilled by company officials, who asked her questions such as, "What do you do when you are in physical pain?" "Do you take Aspirin, Sudafed, Tums, or Tylenol?" and "Have you always followed this religious belief?" the lawsuit claimed.

Domski even furnished officials with the name of her parish and her priest, to no avail.

After officials probed the sincerity of her religious beliefs and the religious beliefs of other employees applying for an exemption, BCBS of Michigan placed many of them on unpaid leave before firing approximately 250 of them, including Domski, on January 5, 2022. However, according to Domski's lawsuit, the company "allowed other unvaccinated employees without Plaintiff's same religious beliefs to be exempted" from the vaccine mandate.

Now, three years later, Domski and her attorney, Jon Marko, are celebrating the jury's decision as a "major victory" in the fight to protect religious liberties.

"Our forefathers fought and died for the freedom for each American to practice his or her own religion. Neither the government nor a corporation has a right to force an individual to choose between his or her career and conscience," Marko said in a statement to Blaze News.

"Lisa refused to renounce her faith and beliefs and was wrongfully terminated from the only job she had ever known. The jury’s verdict today tells BCBSM that religious discrimination has no place in America and affirms each person’s right to religious freedom."

As might be expected, BCBS of Michigan was less effusive about the decision, expressing appreciation for jurors and the process but disappointment with the result.

"Throughout the pandemic, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, together with its employees, worked to promote the health and safety of our colleagues, stakeholders, and communities," the company said in a statement, according to TNND.

"In implementing the vaccine policy, Blue Cross designed an accommodation process that complied with state and federal law and respected the sincerely held religious beliefs of its employees."

The company also indicated that it was still exploring its "legal options" to determine a "path forward."

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You screwed up

COVID vaccine lawsuit against ABC's 'General Hospital' gets court date for wrongful dismissal over religious exemption



A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ruled that a lawsuit against ABC will go to trial after the network was accused of wrongfully dismissing two TV crew members who requested a COVID-19 vaccine exemption on religious grounds.

The father-son duo of James Wahl and Timothy Wahl sued ABC in 2021 after they were fired despite both having worked on the network's daytime serial "General Hospital" for more than a decade each. They ran the construction shop and special effects department for the show, which has been on the air for over 60 years.

The crew members asked for an exemption for the COVID-19 vaccination — which ABC had mandated — based on religious grounds, but the network fired them just one week after their request.

According to their original complaint, ABC "denied almost all such requests during 2021" and "gave no reason for its decision" while questioning the pair's sincerity in their religious belief. "These actions were unlawful. ABC does not have the authority to force a medical treatment on its employees against their will," the complaint read.

Judge Stephen I. Goorvitch denied ABC's motion to dismiss the suit, however, and said that "the jury, not the judge, must resolve whether Plaintiffs [the Wahls] had genuine religious beliefs."

The judge also questioned whether the Disney-owned network could have "reasonably accommodated [the Wahls] without posing an undue hardship," Variety reported.

In addition, Judge Goorvitch noted that despite ABC claiming it would have been unsafe for the unvaccinated crew members to work on the show, they would not be around other people for very long and were also put through routine testing.

"Defendant argues that Plaintiffs could not have been accommodated because they could not maintain a distance of six feet from others. Interpreting the record in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs, however, they were only in close proximity to others for between 30 seconds to several minutes while Plaintiffs were masked and testing regularly and the people with whom they had contact were vaccinated."

The judge pointed to the fact that the defendant's own evidence suggested that the company felt the vaccines were highly effective, which raised the question as to whether or not the Wahls actually posed a risk to fellow employees.

ABC argued that the "highly contagious Delta variant of the virus was prevalent" at the time and thus a risk still existed.

The legal complaint stated that ABC/Disney had "ignored" previously upheld "policies and procedures" surrounding religious beliefs that the compoany said once went to great lengths to accommodate people's beliefs and medical conditions.

The Superior Court judge set the trial date for March 11, 2024. The case could set a landmark precedent if the Wahls are found to have been wrongfully dismissed.

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Lockdown Lover Ruben Gallego Told A Marine To 'Shut The Fuck Up' And Get the Vaccine

From business lockdowns to mask and vaccine mandates, Democrats had no problem pushing controversial coronavirus policies. But few were as gung-ho about restrictive measures as Rep. Ruben Gallego. The Arizona Democrat, who is running to unseat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I., Ariz.) in 2022 told a Marine officer who opposed the vaccine to "shut the fuck up" and get the jab.

The post Lockdown Lover Ruben Gallego Told A Marine To 'Shut The Fuck Up' And Get the Vaccine appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

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'It’s hard to come back from that'

The US military discharged over 8,000 service members who rejected the COVID-19 shot. Only 43 have rejoined.



The Pentagon's vaccine mandate is no longer in effect, but its repercussions continue to be felt. Of the over 8,000 service members discharged for refusing the shot, only 43 have rejoined over the past eight months.

What's the background?

After first rolling out a vaccination program on a voluntary basis, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the mandate in 2021, penalizing all service members who resisted.

The Military Times indicated that roughly 17,000 service members ultimately refused to take the vaccine.

While around 1,200 secured exemptions, Defense Department records indicate that 3,717 Marines, 1,816 soldiers, and 2,064 sailors were discharged for refusing the vaccine, reported Reuters. Further, 834 Air Force/Space Force service members were apparently also discharged.

Approximately 70% of those ousted for their refusal to take the novel mRNA vaccine reportedly received general discharges.

The mandate and the ousters were roundly criticized.

Twenty governors, in a Nov. 30, 2022, letter demanding the mandate's repeal, stated, "The Biden vaccine mandate on our military creates a national security risk that severely impacts our defense capabilities abroad and our state readiness here at home."

About-face

The mandate remained in effect from August 2021 until January 2023, when Republicans ensured its nullification as part of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.

Republican Sens. Ron Johnson (Wis.), Ted Cruz (Texas), and others also proposed that military members who had been discharged for refusing the vaccine be reinstated, reported CNN. However, this amendment to the defense bill in the Senate did not pass.

Following the passage of the NDAA, Austin wrote in an unapologetic memo, "Section 525 of the NDAA for FY 2023 requires me to rescind the mandate that members of the Armed Forces be vaccinated against COVID-19, issued in my August 24, 2021 memorandum, 'Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination of Department of Defense Service Members.' I hereby rescind that memorandum."

Accordingly, troops would no longer have to take the vaccine against their will or undergo segregation "on the basis of their refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination if they sought an accommodation on religious, administrative, or medical grounds."

Despite this reversal and the provision of general discharges, thousands of ousted troops have not returned.

Gone for good

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R) wrote to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth last month demanding answers about how many service members have rejoined as well as about the services' plan "to ensure continued readiness after the mandate went into effect, knowing that thousands of service members would be discharged."

Tuberville said in a corresponding statement, "Joe Biden firing thousands of healthy and dedicated service members made us weaker and never had any basis in science."

"The Senate — and, more importantly, military families — deserve a full accounting of the effects of this policy up and down the chain of command. The Pentagon needs to stop stonewalling and give us the answers we deserve."

CNN reported that, according to data provided by the military branches, since January, only 19 soldiers have rejoined the Army and 12 have rejoined the Marines. As for the Air Force and Navy, only one and two have returned, respectively.

Some analysts have suggested that the lost manpower is a drop in the bucket.

J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CNN the numbers are "minuscule."

"I don't think there was ever any real evidence that it was getting in the way of recruitment or retention," said Morrison. "There was some grumbling, but you know the reality if you enter the military and you submit to a whole battery of different medical measures."

Last year, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger suggested the mandate had in fact impacted recruitment, particularly "in parts of the country [where] there's still myths and misbeliefs about the back story behind it," reported Military.com.

Outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said in a House Armed Services Committee hearing in early 2022, "I think if 2,000 are kicked out [of the Army], I think that would hurt."

In addition to having trouble luring back those able-bodied patriots it discharged during the pandemic, the military appears to be struggling with recruitment and retention.

For instance, TheBlaze reported Tuesday that the Army has found itself having to make "sweeping changes" to its recruiting enterprise after struggling to meet its end-strength goal.

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'I would rather go to prison': Elon Musk declares unwillingness to fire workers for refusing COVID-19 vaccine



Business tycoon Elon Musk said that he would rather land in prison than dismiss workers for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

"My concern was more the outrageous demand that people *must* take the vaccine and multiple boosters to do anything at all. That was messed up," Musk wrote in a Tuesday post on X. "Until the Supreme Court invalidated Biden’s exec order, SpaceX and many other companies would have been forced to fire anyone who refused to get vaccinated! We would not have done so. I would rather go to prison than fire good people who didn't want to be jabbed."

— (@)

Musk noted that he caught COVID-19 before ever getting any COVID-19 vaccine shots.

He said the third jab he received nearly landed him in the hospital.

"As for myself, I got original Covid before the vaccine was out (mild cold symptoms) and had to get three vaccines for travel. The third shot almost sent me to hospital. How many other people out there have symptoms that are actually from the vaccine or Covid treatment, rather than Covid itself?" Musk questioned.

He has previously said that he received a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine shot and two mRNA shots.

"I had major side effects from my second booster shot. Felt like I was dying for several days. Hopefully, no permanent damage, but I dunno," Musk noted in a post earlier this year.

— (@)

Musk said in his post on Tuesday that he is a believer in vaccines, but does not think that debate over a vaccine's effectiveness should be squashed.

"It's not like I don't believe in vaccines – I do. However, the cure cannot be potentially worse than the disease. And public debate over efficacy should not be shut down. There is also great potential for curing many diseases using synthetic mRNA, so let's not throw the baby out with the bath water," Musk wrote.

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