A former San Jose metropolis worker is suing the town, alleging he was fired from his job as an informational know-how supervisor over his faith, which he claims prevented him from getting vaccinated.
Eran Amir, who filed his lawsuit in Santa Clara County Superior Courtroom on Could 11, claims he was discriminated towards and retaliated towards for his faith after he refused to adjust to San Jose’s vaccine mandate and undergo twice-a-week testing.
The mandate went into impact on Oct. 1, 2021, however a last-minute deal struck by the police union after greater than 100 officers threatened to stop, allowed workers the choice of taking a COVID-19 take a look at twice every week in the event that they refused to get vaccinated. The deal by extension utilized to all metropolis workers and those that hadn’t already been granted non secular or medical exemptions additionally needed to serve a week-long unpaid suspension.
In October, Amir was one in every of 3 metropolis workers who served a 40- hour suspension from their jobs for refusing to get vaccinated.
After his suspension, he made a “sarcastic joke” to his supervisor over Microsoft Groups — a messaging platform — saying that he had gotten COVID-19, in response to the lawsuit. A number of hours later, his supervisor mentioned he shouldn’t be within the workplace if he had COVID, prompting Amir to elucidate he was “simply kidding.”
Throughout an Oct. 27 metropolis listening to, his suspension was upheld, Amir informed metropolis officers that he had completed writing up his non secular exemption and deliberate to submit it quickly. The next day he was placed on a one-week paid suspension and was locked out of his work account and was unable to entry the non secular exemption kind, the lawsuit mentioned.
Following the one-week paid suspension he obtained a subsequent unpaid one-week suspension and a discover of termination for refusing to get examined twice every week, in addition to for the joke he made to his supervisor.
He was terminated on Nov. 15 earlier than he submitted a spiritual exemption.
In response to the lawsuit, Amir initially “hesitated to submit it as a result of pending litigation, frequent modifications to the town, county and state mandates, and the truth that the coverage pressured workers to get examined on their very own time,” brought on him “to imagine the town’s vaccination coverage was not authorized.”
In response to one in every of his legal professionals, Oshea Orchid, a accomplice on the Los Angeles-based regulation agency Public Workers Authorized LLP, Amir informed metropolis officers a number of instances that he had written up the exemption, however the metropolis didn’t take the shape.
Orchid added that she doesn’t imagine San Jose’s vaccine coverage is authorized as a result of it requires unvaccinated workers to get examined twice every week on their very own time — with out compensation.
“Simply logistically it was a lot tougher to get examined after work as a result of that was a time when the ability can be extra busy, getting on the bus can be extra busy,” she mentioned of Amir, who doesn’t personal a automobile and needed to take public transit to county testing facilities.
As of April 8, 239 metropolis workers stay unvaccinated, in response to metropolis spokesperson Demetria Machado. Of the town’s 6,950 workers, roughly 97 p.c are vaccinated.
Machado mentioned that 236 workers have obtained exemptions for medical or non secular causes or have a pending exemption request.
Two workers who didn’t adjust to the testing requirement for unvaccinated people had been fired.
San Jose metropolis spokesperson Carolina Camarena declined to touch upon the lawsuit, stating in an e mail “the town doesn't touch upon pending litigation.”