A federal judge ruled Tuesday that former Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich cannot sue Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee or athletic director Pat Chun over his firing in 2021.
Rolovich, along with four assistant coaches, were removed from their posts after they failed to meet a mandate that required state and educational employees to receive the coronavirus vaccine by a certain date.
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Inslee’s proclamation at the time prohibited “any State Agency from permitting any Worker to engage in work for the agency after October 18, 2021, if the Worker has not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provided proof thereof to the agency.”
Rolovich applied for religious exemption, but it was denied.
The federal court in Washington state noted that Rolovich did not make any religious beliefs known until he was told he would be fired for not getting the vaccine, according to The Athletic.
“This Court and many others around the country have consistently found COVID-19 vaccine mandates for state employees are facially neutral and generally applicable, and terminating an employee for failing to comply with a vaccine mandate is a permissible employment action,” U.S. District Court Judge Thomas O. Rice wrote in his decision, according to The Seattle Times.
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Rolovich did not oppose the dismissal of the suits against Inslee and Rolovich.
Washington State also contended that it could not accommodate Rolovich’s religious exemption request because of the coronavirus pandemic guidelines, and that accommodating such request would have increased travel costs, harm recruitment and damage the school’s reputation. Rice said the school will need to do more to prove its argument.
The judge will consider Rolovich’s allegations of state wage law violations, breach of contract and religious discrimination against the school, according to The Seattle Times.
Rolovich was head coach of the Cougars for just 11 games before his dismissal, going 5-6 from 2020-21.
He was working under a five-year contract with three years remaining and was reportedly paid $3.2 million per year.
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