‘9-1-1’ Actor Sues Disney After Being Fired Over Vaccination Mandates

Actor Rockmond Dunbar filed a discrimination lawsuit against 20th Century Studios and Disney on Thursday, February 17. He was written off the Fox television drama 9-1-1 last November after seeking a medical and religious exemption from the vaccine mandates.

According to Deadline, Dunbar “sued the series’ production company 20th Television and its parent Disney claiming the studio engaged in discrimination, including mocking his religious beliefs, barring him from the set and hampering his ability to get other work.”

Dunbar’s suit claims that the vaccine mandates go against the teachings of his church, The Church of Universal Wisdom and that he, as a minority, received unequal treatment from Disney. Violation Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the California Fair Employment Housing Act, and common law principles of contract law are claimed.

The lawsuit seeks over $1.3 million reportedly owed to him under his contract, as well as a wide range of damages and civil-rights-based injunctions.

The lawsuit also states:

“In retaliation, Defendants summarily terminated Mr. Dunbar’s employment agreement, and refused to pay him the hundreds of thousands of dollars that are still owed to him… Then, wanting to make an example out of Mr. Dunbar, he believes that Defendants wrongfully leaked negative information to the media about his departure from ‘9-1-1’ including that he sought both religious and medical exemptions that were denied. Defendants deliberately made it sound like Mr. Dunbar was a recalcitrant anti-vaxxer, rather than present the truth – that like millions of other Americans, he is a sincere adherent to a non-mainstream religious belief that prevents him from being vaccinated.”

In response to the lawsuit, Disney and Fox simply said:

“We take the health and safety of all of our employees very seriously, and have implemented a mandatory vaccination confirmation process for those working in Zone A on our productions. In order to ensure a safer workplace for all, Zone A personnel who do not confirm their vaccination status and do not meet the criteria for exemption will not be eligible to work.”

Related: Disney World Sued by Ex-Housekeeper Over Discrimination, ADA Violation

It should be noted that the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers and Hollywood’s unions, including SAG-AFTRA, the DGA, IATSE, the Teamsters, and the Basic Crafts, all agreed to extend the industry’s Covid protocols to April 30, as well as update what they recognize as “fully vaccinated” to include booster shots starting March 15.

Dunbar played ‘Michael Grant’ on 9-1-1, the husband of Angela Basset’s character Athena Grant.