DALLAS – More than 150 Houston Methodist Hospital employees who refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 have been fired or resigned following a judge’s ruling.
A spokesperson for the Houston Methodist Hospital said 153 employees quit within a two-week period or were laid off.
Earlier this month, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit brought by 117 employees who challenged the vaccination requirement.
This story is being followed closely as it shines a light on steps healthcare facilities can take to protect patients and employees from the coronavirus.
In her June 12 ruling, Justice Lynn Hughes ruled that the claim by the main complainant Jennifer Bridges that vaccines are “experimental and dangerous” was false and irrelevant.
She also found that Jennifer Bridges compared the vaccination requirement to the Nazis’ forced medical experimentation on concentration camp captives during the Holocaust, a “reprehensible” claim, according to the judge.
Justice Bridges said if hospital system workers didn’t like the requirement, they could move to work elsewhere.
Hospital workers who filed the complaint have already appealed the verdict to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The hospital had demanded that employees be fully immunized by June 7.
After that deadline, 178 employees were suspended without pay for two weeks for not complying with the rules.
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