BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Santa Clara County is headed for a trial against three government workers who were put on unpaid leave for refusing to take the Covid vaccine.
The class-action lawsuit was filed by nurses Maria Ramirez and Elizabeth Baluyut and air conditioning mechanic Tom Davis. They said they were uncomfortable because vaccines were tested on fetal cells from abortions, and they believe abortion is murder.
“Some (county employees) also have sincerely held religious beliefs, rooted in Scripture, that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and that they cannot place a pharmaceutical substance into their temples,” the lawsuit said.
Ramirez, Baluyut and Davis said they didn’t follow Dr. Sara Cody’s August 2021 public health order that required up-to-date vaccinations for workers in high-risk settings like hospitals.
The county offered religious and medical exemptions, but employees had to apply for completely different positions that were often demotions, the suit said. The county should’ve offered options like weekly testing, remote work or mask-wearing, the suit said.
Employees said the vaccine mandate was applied inconsistently — for example, unvaccinated jail guards worked with infected inmates.
Ramirez, Baluyut and Davis sued the county in federal court on Feb. 18, 2022, seeking backpay for all unvaccinated employees who were placed on unpaid leave.
In response to the lawsuit, attorney Nathan Greenblatt said the county “is immune from liability for governmental decisions to promote the public health.”
The county lifted its vaccine mandate in September 2022, former County Executive Jeff Smith told the court.
25 people on witness list
Smith is one of 25 witnesses who could testify at the trial, scheduled from June 1 to 12 in San Jose with Judge Beth Labson Freeman.
Cody’s replacement as public health officer, Dr. Sarah Rudman, is also on the witness list.
Sheriff’s Lt. Adam Valle is planning to testify about his experience working in a high-risk job while unvaccinated.
The Board of Supervisors will discuss the case privately today. They’ve discussed a settlement in court eight times without success, court records show.
Employees are represented by attorney Mariah Gondeiro, who unsuccessfully challenged the county’s $1.2 million fine on Calvary Chapel in San Jose for holding indoor worship services without masks, in violation of lockdown orders.
Other county employees are suing
The county is facing another vaccine-related lawsuit from a group of 33 former employees who come from a range of positions — registered nurses, probation counselors, jail guards, therapists, office specialists — who have similar claims as the case headed to trial. They’re in settlement discussions with the county.
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