Henry Ford Health System employees file lawsuit over COVID-19 vaccine mandate

More than 50 Henry Ford Health System employees filed a federal lawsuit against their employer, arguing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate is an unconstitutional violation of their bodily autonomy.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court seeks to halt the Sept. 10 vaccine mandate, which requires all workers, volunteers, and contractors to be vaccinated or lose their jobs.

Claiming the vaccines “provide limited immunity” and are potentially harmful, the employees say the mandate infringes on their right to reject medical treatment.

About 92% of the hospital system’s employees have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The lawsuit claims that more than 13,000 vaccinated people in the U.S. have died, and more than 30,000 have experienced permanent or life-threatening reactions. Those statistics come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which are based on unverified reports and are not necessarily causal.

In a statement, Henry Ford defended the mandate.

“We remain confident that vaccination is the most powerful tool we all have against the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement reads. “Beyond that, we cannot comment on pending litigation.”

Vaccine mandates are leading to an increasing number of lawsuits. Last month, a Michigan State University employee filed a lawsuit claiming the vaccine policy is unconstitutional.

But in May, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updated guidelines, saying that federal law permits vaccine mandates.

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