David Morgan, a pilot and Arizona resident, is suing United Airlines over the company’s recently-imposed vaccine mandate.
Morgan, who has worked for the company for more than two decades, argued his religious beliefs dictated his decisions to not receive the vaccine. However, United denied his exemption.
“My deeply held religious beliefs do not allow me to take the vaccine United Airlines is asking me to take,” Morgan told Fox 10.
Earlier this year, the company announced that it would become the first major U.S. airline to mandate employees take the shot. The decision affects approximately 67,000 employees.
“We know some of you will disagree with this decision to require the vaccine for all United employees,” United CEO Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart argued at the time. “But, we have no greater responsibility to you and your colleagues than to ensure your safety when you’re at work, and the facts are crystal clear: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated.”
However, Morgan detailed that he hopes his federal lawsuit will allow him to return to work.
“We worked through COVID, we worked through the difficult times when this country was scrambling to find answers and questions, and there was so much fear and we worked through this, but suddenly, we can’t continue to do that,” Morgan continued.
Previously, a federal judge ruled that United was allowed to implement the measure.
On the other hand, President Joe Biden’s broad vaccine mandate has been temporarily halted by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, citing that the shot “threatens to substantially burden the liberty interests of reluctant individual recipients put to a choice between their job and their jab.”
The lawsuit filed by a group of state attorney generals seeks to throw out the mandate permanently.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
