THE nine firefighters who were terminated for refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine have asked the CNMI Superior Court for an order reinstating them in their previous jobs until a decision is reached in their lawsuit.
Their attorney, Jeffrey Horey, said his clients “have a strong likelihood of success on the merits…particularly on the issues of individual privacy and procedural due process — the law speaks clearly and emphatically in their favor.”
The plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction was filed Wednesday with Assistant Attorney General Abbi Novotny making an appearance for the fire department and Commissioner Dennis Mendiola.
Horey said his clients “are suffering irreparable harm in the denial of their constitutional rights, and it is in the public interest that these rights not be infringed.”
The plaintiffs, he added, have already proposed numerous ways in which the public health and safety can be protected without requiring their vaccinations, primarily by assigning them to duties within the fire department where public contact is unnecessary.
Horey said the defendants — the CNMI and Dennis Mendiola in his capacity as commissioner of the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services — attempt to refute each of these “less intrusive ways,” but “they do not establish that [the] plaintiffs’ suggestions are not feasible, only that they would be inconvenient to the fire department, and would require some adjustment of the department’s current personnel and other policies, particularly regarding what positions are ‘currently available.’”
Horey said even if it were impossible to accommodate the plaintiffs within the fire department, “there is no reason to limit the analysis to that one department alone, rather than to the entire executive branch.”
The lawyer added, “There is surely some room somewhere in the government for unvaccinated persons to work safely, since the policy itself anticipates making room for those with religious or medical objections to the vaccine. All [the] plaintiffs ask is that the same room be made available to them.”
The lawsuit is asking the court to issue an order declaring that the terminations of the nine firefighters were invalid and unlawful, and to set the terminations aside.
The plaintiffs are alleging violations of their constitutional right to privacy and due process, deprivation of rights and property, and violations of equal protection of the law.
The plaintiffs also want the court to issue an injunctive relief, reinstating them as firefighters, with back pay and cost of the suit.
The plaintiffs are Paul T. Acebedo, Jose K. Angui, Allen T. Calvo, Cain C. Castro, Argernon A. Flores, Derek B. Gersonde, Shawn DLR. Kaipat, Philip M. Kalen and Adam J. Safer who were all also civil employees before their terminations, their lawsuit stated.
According to the lawsuit, on March 16, 2021, the DFEMS commissioner announced that all DFEMS employees were required to register for vaccination by March 18, 2021.
Several firefighters were reluctant to receive the vaccine due to their concerns over its possibly adverse short-term effects and its unknown long-term effects.
On March 18, 2021, the plaintiffs and other firefighters petitioned Commissioner Mendiola to exempt them from the vaccine requirement.
However, no exemption was granted. Instead, on March 19, 2021, Mendiola placed the signatories of the petition on administrative duty.
Some of the signatories then agreed to be vaccinated, but the plaintiffs did not.
On April 12, 2021, the plaintiffs were notified that they would be terminated from DFEMS after 30 days, i.e., on May 12, 2021, on the ground of insubordination.
On April 28, 2021, the plaintiffs requested that the termination notices be rescinded, saying that the proposed terminations would violate their constitutional rights to individual privacy and due process of law.
While the issue was under consideration, the termination date was extended to May 21, 2021.
On May 14, 2021, the plaintiffs proposed numerous ideas to Mendiola for alternative duties they could perform that would enable them to continue in their jobs while substantially reducing or eliminating the need for them to interact with others, particularly with members of the general public.
On May 20, 2021, Mendiola rejected all of these proposals in a letter, the lawsuit stated.
