Two Former ESPN Employees File Lawsuit Over Vaccine Mandate

Two ex-ESPN employees filed a federal suit against the company, alleging that its coronavirus vaccination mandate violated their religious freedom.

Ex-journalist Allison Williams and Beth Faber filed the lawsuit claiming that Disney and the sports media empire forced them to make a choice between their jobs and their religious beliefs. After failing to follow the mandate, both were fired in 2021.

ESPN Reporter Allison Williams interviews Devin Vassell #24 from the Florida State Seminoles following the game against the Louisville Cardinals at Donald L. Tucker Center, February 24, 2020 in Tallahassee. (Don Juan Moore/Getty Images).

“Forcing [the] plaintiffs to choose between continuation of their employment and a violation of their religious beliefs in order to retain their livelihoods imposes a substantial burden on plaintiffs’ ability to conduct themselves in accordance with their sincerely held religious beliefs,” the pair’s attorney, Christopher Dunn, The complaint was filed.

They were both fired in 2021 for not following the mandate. In an October 2021 Instagram post, Williams said that she could not violate her values and morals to accommodate her employer’s demands.
“I have been denied my request for accommodation by ESPN and The Walt Disney Company, and effective next week, I will be separated from the company,” She said. “I’m so morally and ethically not aligned with this. I’ve had to really dig deep and analyze my values and my morals. Ultimately, I need to put them first. The irony in all this are the same values and principles I hold so dear are what made me a really good employee and probably what helped with the success I’ve been able to have in my career.”

Faber, who has worked with ESPN for more than 30 years, stated that ESPN made the best television. “no serious attempt” To negotiate a deal.

ESPN anchor Sage Steele also filed a lawsuit in April 2022 against the network, alleging it violated her free speech rights by illegally retaliating against her after she denounced the company’s vaccine mandate as “sick” and questioned former President Barack Obama’s blackness over his being raised by his white family.

“If they make you choose a race, what are you gonna put? Well, both,” Steele . “Barack Obama chose black and he’s biracial…congratulation to the President, that’s his thing, I think that’s fascinating considering his black dad is nowhere to be found but his white mom and grandma raised him, but okay. You do you. I’m gonna do me.”

Steele’s lawsuit Claim She was forced to apologize by ESPN (a Disney subsidiary). “retaliated against her by taking away prime assignments and failing to stop her colleagues from bullying and harassing her, as well as taking action based on ‘inaccurate third-party accounts’ of her comments before reviewing their context,” Yahoo Sports.