A Louisiana appeals court has issued a preliminary injunction barring Ochsner Health from disciplining employees who chose not to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate issued at the company’s Shreveport and Monroe facilities.
The decision by Louisiana’s Second Circuit Court of Appeal on Oct. 28 was welcomed by the attorney representing plaintiffs in the case but panned by Ochsner’s president and CEO, Warner Thomas, who said the company would appeal it to the state Supreme Court.
“The decision ... by the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal in the Shreveport case to reverse the decision issued by the district court was both surprising and disappointing,” Thomas said in a prepared statement. “This ruling is inconsistent with established Louisiana law as well as with decisions of courts across the country upholding COVID-19 vaccine mandates.”
The appeals court sent the case back to the trial court with an instruction to issue a temporary restraining order barring disciplinary action by Ochsner against the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
“We conclude that the applicants stated a cause of action for preliminary injunction and declaratory relief on the claim that disciplinary action including termination of employment by defendants … would unlawfully abridge certain alleged constitutional rights and that applicants are entitled to a hearing thereon,” the appeals court opinion states.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Jimmy Faircloth said a hearing is scheduled in trial court on Tuesday, with a discussion of competing rights at the heart of the case. The employees argue that they have the right to refuse health care procedures based on privacy rights in the Louisiana constitution, while the employer will emphasize its rights to have a safe workplace, according to Faircloth.
“There will be a trial on the balance of the interests,” he told the Louisiana Record. “Ochner argued ... that there was no right to recover under the law for private employees, that private employers are not subject to these rights. That’s clearly wrong.”
Louisiana now has the second lowest COVID-19 case rate in the nation, according to Faircloth, and this makes the need for vaccine mandates less urgent.
“You can’t make a case now that there’s some urgency that justifies having an intrusive policy like this,” he said.
Ochsner said it would delay a COVID-19 vaccine compliance deadline for employees at its Shreveport and Monroe facilities until the legal matter is settled.