A Los Angeles Police officer wears on-body cameras during a demonstration for media in Los Angeles on Jan. 15. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Damian Dovarganes

Federal judge dismisses LAPD officers’ lawsuit over vaccine mandate

Christopher Hutton January 11, 10:52 AMJanuary 11, 10:52 AM

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Los Angeles police officers challenging the city’s vaccine mandate.

On Monday, Judge R. Gary Klausner of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California rejected the 13 officers’ claims in their September lawsuit that the mandate violated their constitutional rights to privacy, due process, and against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Video Embed

“With the Omicron variant raging, this victory for public health and safety — the fourth my office has secured — comes at an especially crucial time,” City Attorney Mike Feuer said on Twitter. “With record numbers of COVID-19 cases each day, it is more important than ever that the first responders we trust to keep us safe comply with the vaccine mandate.”

HALF OF EUROPE ON PACE TO GET OMICRON WITHIN TWO MONTHS: WHO OFFICIAL

Daniel Watkins, the attorney representing the 13 officers, told the Los Angeles Times that they are “reviewing the court’s ruling and determining next steps.”

Other California judges previously dismissed challenges from Los Angeles Police Department employees and even the union over the vaccine mandate. After the LAPD union filed a lawsuit in October alleging that the city failed to negotiate in good faith about its testing contractor, the case was denied by a city judge in December, who ruled that the balance of protecting public health was more important than any labor troubles.

Los Angeles’s current mandate requires city employees, including officers, to be fully vaccinated or regularly tested if they have a religious exemption.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

While early reports alleged a mass police “exodus” over the city’s vaccination mandate, Los Angeles has kept a majority of its officers. More than 80% of LAPD and Los Angeles Fire Department employees were fully vaccinated as of December 2021, and 108 Los Angeles firefighters were placed on unpaid leave in early December for not getting vaccinated.

Despite the dismissal, Krausner advised the 13 officers involved in the suit that they could refile their religious discrimination claims if they had any evidence of it. He gave the officers until Friday to amend their case.

© 2022 Washington Examiner

Originally appeared at Washington Examiner

Read More