ABC to Face Trial Over COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

ABC must face religious discrimination claims from two former General Hospital crewmembers who sued the network after they were fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccination, marking one of the first rulings to clear the way for trial over terminations caused by blanket vaccine mandates widely imposed by studios amid the pandemic.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a Los Angeles judge found that James and Timothy Wahl may have had "sincerely held" religious beliefs that ABC should have accommodated by affording them exemptions and allowing them to follow safety protocols implemented before mandatory vaccination policies were rolled out.

The ruling comes on the heels of ABC defeating a similar lawsuit from Ingo Rademacher over his dismissal from General Hospital for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Unlike with crewmembers who were not in close, unmasked contact with others, the court found in that case that it was impossible for unvaccinated actors to safely work on set during the pandemic due to the nature of their work.

ABC was among several studios that in the summer of 2021 carried out vaccine mandates, which were agreed upon by Hollywood's guilds and studios. The return-to-work protocols stated that vaccines could be required for those working in "Zone A" of a production - typically a project's main actors, as well as key crewmembers who work closely with them in the highest-risk areas of the set.

In 2022, father and son James and Timothy Wahl, both of whom worked in the special effects department for the show, sued ABC after their requests for religious exemptions were denied. The rejections were based on ABC's uncertainty as to whether their objections to taking the vaccine were based on their Christian faith.

ABC argued that the Wahls did not have genuine religious beliefs and that, even if they did, it could not have accommodated them without undue hardship. It also claimed that IATSE waived any rights members had to object to mandatory vaccination policies.

Ruling against ABC on summary judgment, the court concluded that the studio may have discriminated against the Wahls on the basis of their religion by failing to find a workaround for their refusal to get vaccinated.