PERK LAWSUIT AGAINST THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES WILL BE APPEALED
PRESS RELEASE
February 10, 2023
PERK LAWSUIT AGAINST THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES WILL BE APPEALED
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Last week, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gail Killefer dismissed the case that PERK filed for employees of Los Angeles County who were ordered to get the COVID-19 shots under threat of termination. The decision will be appealed.
The case, Tsai v. Los Angeles County, was filed in October 2021 in response to the County’s unprecedented decision to interfere with its employees’ medical freedom. Notably, Judge Killefer said in her written decision that the cases the County cited “do not stand for the proposition that mandatory vaccination is appropriate in all circumstances.” Judge Killefer also wrote that she would “not delve into fact finding missions at this stage,” and she said she would give the plaintiffs a chance to gather evidence and make that showing. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
“The judge’s decision is perplexing, as it correctly notes that mandatory vaccination policies are not always lawful and that legal challenges to them must be decided on the merits, but then the judge deprived the plaintiffs of that opportunity,” said Scott Street, the attorney leading the case for PERK and the individual plaintiffs. “We have always said that, regardless of the outcome, the plaintiffs in these cases deserve a fair opportunity to litigate their claims. Unfortunately, the judge did not allow that here.”
Individual Plaintiffs Vincent Tsai, Oscar Rodriguez, Enrique Iribe, Mohamed Bina, and Shayne Lamont are prepared to continue the fight for their freedom, and the freedom of all the anonymous county employees, to make their own decisions regarding the vaccines, the freedom to maintain their own bodily autonomy, and to protect themselves from being forced to take a medical procedure as a condition of employment.
PERK President Amy Bohn stated, “On behalf of thousands of firefighters, first responders, public employees, and all Californians, we will continue the fight. The PERK (Tsai) vs. Los Angeles County case will be appealed. Our lawsuit is not over. It will continue to pressure Los Angeles County to rescind all the COVID vaccine policies. This mandate was illegal and forcibly imposed on all the public employees and first responders. We know we are right, and we have gotten good results in San Francisco and San Diego. We didn’t come this far to stop now. The plaintiffs and thousands of public employees are resilient and will continue to fight back to preserve their inalienable rights and freedoms. I am incredibly proud of the plaintiffs, who as fearless leaders in their community, were willing to put their name on the line for all. As people see a rescinding of the mandates, restoration of jobs, and fully granting exemptions, this is the county capitulating to the enormous pressure our lawsuit and other lawsuits in LA City and County has put on them.”
Bohn continued, “The county’s vaccine mandate order should be declared void because the county didn’t have the power to issue it in the first place and because the mandate is arbitrary. The mandate was always unconstitutional as it violated fundamental privacy rights under the California Constitution. The authority to enforce the mandates was not properly delegated either. The mandate disregarding the science and violation of bodily autonomy, as protected by Federal and State discrimination laws, privacy rights, and the Nuremberg code. Individuals have a right to privacy under the California Constitution, and the right to protect their bodily integrity.”
There is no question that PERK lawsuits in California have contended with the illegality of the mandates and halted the termination of thousands of jobs, protected parental rights and children, and stopped mandates. PERK will continue our fight for all Californians to protect and preserve freedom. We are grateful for the support from our PERK members, county employees, and partners.
PERK has filed many lawsuits in the state and is confident that the pressure of their litigation will result in the other cities and counties to also follow suit and remove their mandates. The illegality of them will cause the law to prevail. PERK has also been instrumental in influencing and leading historic victories in California in other lawsuits and against anti-parental rights bills like SB866 in 2022.
PERK and the PERK plaintiffs are represented by Attorney John Howard and Attorney Scott J.
Street of J.W. Howard/ Attorneys, Ltd.
ABOUT PERK
Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids: PERK is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation whose mission is to advocate for medical freedom, bodily autonomy, children’s rights, parental rights, civil rights and protect children’s right to an education. PERK has over 30,000 members throughout California, consisting of public employees, first responders, and parents of children attending school, grades K through 12, in California. PERK has filed this complaint against San Diego City, in addition to its other lawsuits against Los Angeles County, Granada Hills Charter, The City of Beverly Hills, Conejo Valley School District, and others.
https://www.perk-group.com/give
ABOUT ATTORNEY JOHN HOWARD AND ATTORNEY SCOTT STREET
