Seven Denver Police Department officers filed a lawsuit against the Democrat-run city due to its coronavirus vaccine mandate, accusing Mayor Michael Hancock and other officials of attempting to illegally implement the requirement.
CPR News reports:
Hancock ordered city employees and certain “high-risk” workers in the private sector to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in August. The deadline for that order is Thursday.
Attorney Randy Corporan, on behalf of Officers Dewayne Rodgers, Bart Stark, Rich Ziegler, Nick Elliott, David Curtis, Les Tucker, and Jonathan Christian, filed court documents in the Denver District Court last week.
The lawsuit requests a temporary restraining order and subsequent review of the vaccine requirement, which it describes as unlawful due to the vaccines’ “still experimental” status. The Pfizer vaccine was fully approved by the FDA in August.
“During the pandemic, each of these Plaintiffs loyally worked the front lines, yet now, they are precipitously placed on the edge of unemployment,” the lawsuit reportedly reads.
A hearing for the officers’ lawsuit is slated for Wednesday morning, CPR News said.
The Denver-based lawsuit is the latest legal action take by law enforcement officers across the country that oppose the mandate. A judge recently denied a request by the State Police Association of Massachusetts to halt the state’s vaccine rules issued by Gov. Charlie Baker (R). The state police union said Monday that dozens of troopers are resigning due to the state’s imminent mandate.
“Throughout COVID, we have been on the front lines protecting the citizens of Massachusetts and beyond. Simply put, all we are asking for are the same basic accommodations that countless other departments have provided to their first responders, and to treat a COVID related illness as a line of duty injury,” the union, which counts 1,800 troopers as members, said in a statement obtained by CBS Boston.
“To date, dozens of troopers have already submitted their resignation paperwork, some of whom plan to return to other departments offering reasonable alternatives such as mask wearing and regular testing,” the statement added. “The State Police are already critically short staffed and acknowledged this by the unprecedented moves which took troopers from specialty units that investigate homicides, terrorism, computer crimes, arsons, gangs, narcotics, and human trafficking, and returned them to uniformed patrol.”
All Massachusetts executive department employees must provide proof of vaccination by October 17, or they could be terminated.
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