LAPD employees sue city over vaccination mandate

LOS ANGELES — A group of Los Angeles Police Department employees has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the city’s mandate that all LA employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The lawsuit, filed Saturday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, claims the mandate violates the employees’ constitutional rights to privacy and due process and asks the court to provide immediate and permanent relief from the requirement.

The six LAPD employees suing include individuals “who could not assert a medical or religious exemption” to the vaccine requirement, as well as individuals who have “experienced and recovered from COVID-19” and have natural antibodies to fight the virus, the complaint says.

The lawsuit alleges the city’s mandate ignores the natural protections provided by such antibodies and claims the suing employees “can safely perform their job duties protecting themselves, fellow employees and the community they serve through non-pharmaceutical interventions such as daily health screenings, wearing masks, and quarantine.”

The suit also claims the employees have been subjected to harassment and undue pressure to get vaccinated by LAPD leaders, including a captain who said during a roll call meeting that the city was willing to fire thousands of officers if they don’t get vaccinated.

It alleges that commanders have called unvaccinated officers “unfit for duty” and told them that they would be denied promotions and special assignments based on their unvaccinated status.

Capt. Stacy Spell, an LAPD spokesman, said Sunday that the department could not comment on the pending litigation. Nearly half of the LAPD’s 12,000-plus workforce remained unvaccinated, according to recent data.