ESPN facing lawsuit from two former employees over vaccine mandate
Jenny Goldsberry
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A lawsuit against ESPN was filed in Connecticut on Wednesday over the company’s vaccine mandate.
Beth Faber and Allison Williams, two former employees, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut following their respective terminations over their decision not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Both are seeking unspecified monetary damages for not being approved for religious exemptions from the vaccination.
Williams had been a host with the broadcasting company for 10 years, while Faber had worked there for nearly 31 years.
When a companywide email was sent out announcing the vaccine mandate on May 27, 2021, Faber responded within the same day to express her “VERY strong religious beliefs” against the vaccine and attempted to negotiate an exemption. ESPN human resources representative Julie Walden instead suggested to Faber that “maybe God has led you to a new career, when God closes a door, he opens another,” according to the complaint.
PENTAGON LIFTS VACCINE MANDATE
Faber Williams v. ESPN
Williams, on the other hand, initially sought a disability exemption, as she was in the process of in vitro fertilization, or IVF, with concerns about the vaccine affecting a pregnancy. Later, Williams would apply for an exemption on religious grounds only to be denied and terminated in October 2021. The former host would go on to give birth successfully to her second child during the summer of 2022.
These former employees are being represented by Christopher Dunn of Dunn Employment Law and Sheldon Karasik, who is applying for special permission from the Connecticut State Bar Association to practice in the state, although he’s not licensed there.
“Vaccine mandates have defined the lives of many millions for the last couple of years. There are times when an employee seeks an exemption either for religious reasons or medical reasons and they need the assistance of an attorney to help them secure one so that they won’t lose their job,” Dunn’s website reads. “Jacobson, in 1905, wasn’t denied a livelihood when he was ordered by the court to pay a $5 fine for not taking the Smallpox vaccine. The penalty must match the crime.”
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ESPN is facing another lawsuit in Connecticut filed by anchor Sage Steele last April, partly due to the vaccine mandate. The sports broadcasting company declined to comment when contacted by the Washington Examiner.