We defeated emergency attempts to enjoin Kaiser’s COVID-19 vaccination policy for employees.
“We are grateful for the court’s well-reasoned order and proud to protect Kaiser’s efforts to safeguard the health of its employees, patients, and communities,” said Joseph Reiter.
The United KP Freedom Alliance, a group representing more than 4,000 Kaiser employees, filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California alleging that Kaiser’s vaccine policy violates employee’s constitutional rights and California law. Plaintiffs sought both a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction prohibiting Kaiser from enforcing its policy and terminating employees who do not become fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or obtain an applicable exemption.
In denying both of plaintiffs’ motions, Judge Vince Chhabria ruled for Kaiser on every point in dispute. Judge Chhabria found that plaintiffs could not succeed on their privacy claims under the California Constitution because Kaiser’s “policy is justified by multiple important interests,” including promoting the health and safety of its workforce, and Kaiser had presented “strong empirical evidence about the efficacy of the vaccine.” On their federal constitution claims, Judge Chhabria found that plaintiffs had not shown “even a possibility” of success because Kaiser is not a state actor.
The Hueston Hennigan team included John Hueston, Marshall Camp, Joseph Reiter, Haoxiaohan Cai, Joseph Crusham, and Emily Minton Mattson.
See Bloomberg Law Article.