Federal judge rules in favor of ULA in vaccine mandate lawsuit

DECATUR, Ala. (WAFF) - Federal contractors nationwide are suing over President Biden’s vaccine mandate, including contractors for United Launch Alliance in Decatur. But, a federal judge on Tuesday denied requests by the employees to get their jobs back.

A federal judge ruled in favor of ULA in the preliminary injunction request by Decatur employees brought against the company over vaccine mandates.

In the lawsuit, the employees asked the judge to grant a preliminary injunction, which would have banned ULA from forcing unvaccinated employees to resign who had filed religious or medical exemptions.

“Judge Kallon primarily found that they hadn’t shown a substantial probability that they would win the case in the end. That’s always the most important,” Huntsville Employment Attorney Robert Lockwood said.

The employees claimed ULA violated their religious freedoms by not accepting their exemptions and wanted a judge to restore their employment immediately.

ULA’s argument has been clear, follow company policy for public safety.

In this opinion the judge said more harm could come to ULA in keeping unvaccinated workers on the payroll versus them finding a new job.

But Lockwood says this case isn’t over.

“This is still an active lawsuit. This is simply Judge saying, ‘hey, at the very beginning of the process, I’m not going to say you win. Instead, you guys need to go through the normal process of a lawsuit,” Lockwood said.

In this case, the judge said the contractors failed to meet all of the requirements for an injunction to be granted.

Those requirements are:

1. It has a substantial likelihood of success on the merits

2. Irreparable injury will be suffered unless the injunction issues

3. the threatened injury to the movant outweighs whatever damage the proposed injunction may cause the opposing party

4. if issued, the injunction would not be adverse to the public interest.”

Although the judge denied the preliminary injunction, that does not mean this case is over.

The attorney representing the contractors released a statement regarding the lawsuit:

The case is far from over. Our clients still have claims pending before the EEOC and the Alabama Department of Labor, and we are also exploring the feasibility of an appeal. We are considering our options, but we look forward to continuing to represent our clients as they fight for their jobs, their medical freedom, and their religious liberty.

Contractors will likely have to wait at least six months for a decision from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that could change things in their favor.

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