Former Bellingham firefighters, EMTs, police officers and other city employees fired for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review their case

By Hannah Edelman
The Bellingham Herald

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A group of former city of Bellingham employees who were fired for refusing to comply with a COVID-19 vaccine mandate have filed a petition to have their case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The employees, which include EMTs, police officers, firefighters, a senior inspector and a wastewater collections supervisor, filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Bellingham and former Mayor Seth Fleetwood in June 2024 over Fleetwood’s 2021 executive order requiring city employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

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The lawsuit called the policy unlawful, arbitrary and a “reckless, willful and wanton disregard for plaintiffs’ rights, safety and health.” The plaintiffs alleged that the city deprived them of the option to refuse and their rights to due process, equal protection and privacy. They also claimed wrongful termination and intentional infliction of emotional distress and requested punitive damages.

Bellingham refuted the allegations, challenging the notion that the COVID-19 vaccine was an “investigational drug” and outlining what the city sees as failures by the other claims to meet legal standards.

The district court dismissed the case with prejudice in January 2025, and the plaintiffs filed an appeal the following month in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On May 26, two circuit judges upheld the district court’s ruling, dismissing the case.

The plaintiffs have now filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, which orders a lower court to send up the case for review. The petition, submitted Aug. 24, claims the lower courts failed to address whether the 14th Amendment precludes states and their political subdivisions from mandating the administration of “new drugs.”

“The questions presented are critically important, and the stakes are high because injecting investigational drugs can cause irreparable harm,” the petition states.

The city of Bellingham told The Herald that it does not have a comment on the petition. An attorney for the city filed a waiver Wednesday stating the respondents did not intend to file a response with the court unless one is requested.

The court’s response to the petition for a writ of certiorari is due Sept. 30.

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