More than 150 employees at Houston hospital who refused to get COVID-19 vaccine have resigned or been fired
Over 150 employees challenging vaccine requirement at Houston Methodist have either been fired or resigned
A total of 153 employees are now gone from Houston Methodist; they’ve been fired or resigned over COVID-19 vaccine requirements. However, FOX 26 Houston’s Tiffany Justice tells us the fight isn’t over.
HOUSTON (AP) - More than 150 people with Houston Methodist Hospital are out of a job, following an ongoing battle against a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for employees.
SIGN UP FOR FOX 26 HOUSTON EMAIL ALERTS
A total of 153 employees who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine have resigned or been fired. A spokesperson with Houston Methodist confirmed to FOX 26 these employees were out of the 178, who were suspended after the June 7th deadline.
RELATED: Dozens of Houston Methodist employees walk out of job in protest of mandatory vaccine
"The employees who became compliant during the suspension period returned to work the day after they became compliant," the spokesperson said in an email response.
However, Jennifer Bridges, who was a nurse for Houston Methodist tells FOX 26, she believes the number of employees no longer with the hospital system is even higher.
"A lot of people resigned weeks ago some people resigned to just a couple of days before the deadline," said Bridges. "We had a lot of physicians resign ahead of time and are stuck in the same boat too because they didn’t want to take the shot."
This comes more than a week after a federal judge tossed out a lawsuit by more than 100 employees against the hospital system.
RELATED: More than 100 employees suing Houston Methodist for requiring them to get COVID-19 vaccine
A new lawsuit against the hospital is already going through the court system and Bridges says, they plan on appealing and have filed in the 5th circuit court of appeals.
"The people in our lawsuit are not just Methodist employees, they are every walk of life that worked at the hospital, we have security officers and vendors said Bridges.
Jared Woodfill, the attorney representing these now-former employees expects the case to reach the Texas Supreme Court.
A protest is expected to be held this Saturday, the 26th at the downtown Houston Methodist location at 11 a.m.