{"id":1188994,"date":"2022-01-04T23:19:34","date_gmt":"2022-01-05T04:19:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1188994"},"modified":"2022-01-04T23:19:40","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T04:19:40","slug":"federal-judges-hear-arguments-in-united-airlines-vaccine-mandate-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-judges-hear-arguments-in-united-airlines-vaccine-mandate-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Judges Hear Arguments in United Airlines Vaccine Mandate Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffederal-judges-hear-arguments-in-united-airlines-vaccine-mandate-case%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1188994&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/United-Airlines-Employees-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">A three-judge panel in a federal appeals court heard arguments Monday evening in a lawsuit against United Airlines regarding the company\u2019s coronavirus vaccine mandate.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit, which was originally&nbsp;<a title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/Users\/katherinehamilton\/Downloads\/1%20-%20Complaint%20(1).pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">filed<\/a>&nbsp;by six United Airlines employees in September, alleges that the company violated&nbsp;Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by discriminating against them based on their religious&nbsp;beliefs&nbsp;and medical&nbsp;conditions. As&nbsp;a \u201creasonable accommodation\u201d&nbsp;for these&nbsp;beliefs and conditions, United has placed&nbsp;around&nbsp;2,000 employees on unpaid leave for foregoing vaccination. Those employees have also been stripped of their health benefits and many are the subject of a non-compete clause.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>A panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, comprised of President Donald Trump appointee Andy Oldham, Ronald Reagan appointee Jerry Smith, and George W. Bush appointee Jennifer Elrod, will ultimately have to decide whether United employees face irreparable harm and are in need of a preliminary injunction to preserve the status quo while litigation continues. The Fifth Circuit, which is widely considered the most conservative appeals court, rejected an emergency request to halt the mandate in mid-December, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/health\/2021\/12\/14\/appeals-court-refuses-to-block-united-airlines-vaccine-mandate\/\">granted<\/a> a motion to expedite an appeal in the case after a district judge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/11\/09\/judge-allows-united-airlines-to-mandate-vaccination-for-employees-criticizes-calloused-approach\/\">refused<\/a> to grant an injunction.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Hearing Highlights&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Plaintiffs\u2019 lawyer, Gene Schaerr of D.C. law firm Schaerr Jaffe, argued that United\u2019s mandate uses coercion to make its employees choose between \u201cthe jab and the job,\u201d and that doing so causes irreparable harm because vaccination cannot be undone and because it creates a crisis of conscience. He emphasized that many employees do not want to be \u201ccomplicit in the destruction of human life,\u201d as an abortion-derived cell line was used to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/faith\/2021\/04\/14\/pro-life-leaders-assess-concerns-about-the-use-of-abortion-derived-cell-lines-in-coronavirus-vaccines\/\">lab test and\/or develop<\/a> most coronavirus vaccines.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThis legal question is important because if what United is doing is not irreparable injury, a company can likely escape all accountability for having violated its employees\u2019 rights,\u201d Schaerr said during arguments.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>The panel seemed more favorable to United\u2019s employees 2-1. Elrod and Oldham asked more probing and sympathetic questions that would benefit United\u2019s unvaccinated employees, while Smith, a libertarian, did not seem to think employees have a solid case.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019ve exhausted&nbsp;[the process of seeking relief from the EEOC], and I think that\u2019s fatal to you,\u201d Smith said, noting that he did not foresee a likelihood of success on the merits.<\/p>\n<p>Schaerr replied by quoting an opinion from District Court Judge Mark Pittman, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/11\/09\/judge-allows-united-airlines-to-mandate-vaccination-for-employees-criticizes-calloused-approach\/\">said<\/a>&nbsp;the \u201carguments appear compelling and convincing at this stage.\u201d Pittman, a Trump appointee, also criticized United\u2019s \u201ccalloused approach\u201d&nbsp; and said its mandate reflects \u201capathy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cYeah, he threw in some cheap shots \u2014 there\u2019s no doubt about it,\u201d Smith said of Pittman\u2019s opinion. \u201cHe said he was dwelling only on the irreparable harm, and then he managed to try and poison the well as best he could.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI think he wanted to convey to the world that our claims have merit,\u201d Schaerr replied.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>During United\u2019s argument, Elrod contended that \u201cmost people cannot wait it out for a year\u201d on unpaid leave, to which lawyer&nbsp;Hashim Mooppan conceded. However, he argued that most Title VII plaintiffs face that possibility.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cMaybe there should be a distinction for accommodation cases where it\u2019s not after the person has been fired, it\u2019s perspective accommodation cases,\u201d Elrod replied.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>The judge also called out United Airlines for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/01\/02\/exclusive-united-airlines-outsources-work-potentially-unvaccinated-london-flight-attendants\/\">allowing<\/a> potentially unvaccinated London staff to mingle with vaccinated American staff.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWith respect to foreign employees, there are separate foreign laws that we have to comply with \u2014 it doesn\u2019t make it a non-neutral policy that we have to comply with other countries,\u201d Mooppan responded. Elrod continued:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>But it shows that it\u2019s not an undue hardship to be working with people who are not vaccinated doesn\u2019t it? \u2026If you have a work pool with some people who are and some people who aren\u2019t, the argument that you\u2019re actually accomplishing anything \u2014 the argument goes down doesn\u2019t it?&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Mooppan did not reply any further to that line of questioning.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>During United\u2019s argument, Oldham said the case is the first he has seen of its kind that has a \u201cconscience angle to it\u201d and told Mooppan that court precedent holds that indefinite unpaid leave is an adverse employment action. He also took time to further clarify United employee\u2019s claims.:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>The argument is: it\u2019s not that they don\u2019t have to show irreparable injury, it\u2019s that the injuries they\u2019re suffering are two. They\u2019re suffering one injury from being on unpaid leave indefinitely, and they\u2019re suffering a second injury because they\u2019re put through the crisis of conscience in choosing their fate.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cI don\u2019t see why the court can\u2019t use the equitable power of an injunction to stop it,\u201d he concluded.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Schaerr, in closing argument, said there will not be a trial until the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) grants employees the right to pursue the lawsuit. The judges did not say when they will rule on the appeal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The case is&nbsp;<em>Sambrano v. United Airlines<\/em>, No. 21-11159 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.<\/p>\n<p><em>Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/katherineeeeee2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A three-judge panel in a federal appeals court heard arguments Monday evening in a lawsuit against United Airlines regarding the company\u2019s coronavirus vaccine mandate. The lawsuit, which was originally\u00a0filed\u00a0by six &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1188994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1188994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1188994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1188994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1188994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1188994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1188994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}