Disney/ABC Sued For Violating Crew Members’ Religious Freedom

In recent years, the Walt Disney Company has run afoul of many conservatives. It started with Disney’s feud with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and continued last week as former advisor to Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, sued Disney, claiming it discriminated against white people. 

But now, Disney finds itself in the middle of another controversy. A Los Angeles judge ruled that a case against Disney for violating the religious freedom of its former employees could move forward to a jury trial.

Disney is accused of violating the religious freedom of James and Timothy Wahl when it fired them for refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The Walt Disney Company imposed a blanket vaccine mandate, but the Wahls refused, citing their religious beliefs. This is the first case against Hollywood Studios to move forward over their vaccine mandates.

In the summer of 2021, ABC issued a vaccine mandate for all employees. The mandate required that all actors and key crewmembers receive the vaccination. At the time, James and Timothy Wahl were working in the visual effects department of the ABC soap opera General Hospital. 

The father and son refused to get the COVID-19 vaccination, citing their religious beliefs. ABC would deny their request, saying it was uncertain if their refusal was based on their Christian faith. ABC also argued that accommodating them would have caused an undue hardship.

General Hospital actor Ingo Rademacher sued ABC after refusing to receive the vaccine. However, the court sided with ABC, saying that it was impossible to accommodate an actor on set who would have been in close proximity to other actors.

However, unlike Ingo Rademacher, the Wahls worked behind the scenes at General Hospital, and their lawyer argued that they could have easily done their jobs by following safety protocols that were in place before the vaccine mandate.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephen Goorvitch ruled that the Wahls lawsuit should head to the jury. However, the Wahls dropped their disability discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination lawsuit against ABC and Disney.

This is the third lawsuit that Disney has faced over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In all of the cases, the religious exemption request was handled by Disney’s lawyers, and the employee had to show a genuine religious belief rather than a political motivation for the religious exemption request to be accepted.

James Wahl and Timothy Wahl will now get their day in court to show that they deserved an exemption and should not have been fired for their Christian beliefs.

What do you think about this latest lawsuit against Disney? Let us know in the comments.