By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- Former Bellingham, Washington, city employees fired for refusing a 2021 COVID-19 vaccine mandate have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review their case.
- The group includes former firefighters, EMTs, police officers, a senior inspector and a wastewater collections supervisor who sued the city and then-Mayor Seth Fleetwood in June 2024.
- A federal district court dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice in January 2025, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that dismissal in May.
- The Aug. 24 petition for a writ of certiorari argues lower courts failed to address whether the 14th Amendment bars governments from mandating “new drugs.”
- The city of Bellingham has not filed a public comment and does not plan to respond to the petition unless the court requests one; the court’s response is due Sept. 30.
BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A group of former Bellingham city employees fired for refusing to comply with a 2021 COVID-19 vaccine mandate has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review their case after losing at both the district and appellate court levels.
The plaintiffs, who include former firefighters, EMTs, police officers, a senior inspector and a wastewater collections supervisor, filed a federal lawsuit in June 2024 against the city and then-Mayor Seth Fleetwood over his 2021 executive order requiring city employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The lawsuit alleged the policy was unlawful and arbitrary and violated the plaintiffs’ rights to due process, equal protection and privacy, claiming wrongful termination and intentional infliction of emotional distress while seeking punitive damages. The city disputed the claims, including the plaintiffs’ characterization of the vaccine as an “investigational drug.”
A federal district court dismissed the case with prejudice in January 2025. The plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which upheld the dismissal in a ruling issued May 26 by a two-judge panel.
The plaintiffs filed a petition for a writ of certiorari on Aug. 24, asking the Supreme Court to take up the case. The petition argues the lower courts failed to address whether the 14th Amendment prevents states and local governments from mandating “new drugs.” “The questions presented are critically important, and the stakes are high because injecting investigational drugs can cause irreparable harm,” the petition states.
The city of Bellingham told The Bellingham Herald it had no comment on the petition. An attorney for the city filed a waiver stating Bellingham does not intend to respond to the petition unless the court requests one. The Supreme Court’s response to the petition is due Sept. 30.