A group of airline pilots have teamed up with a national legal organization to challenge President Joe Biden’s Covid injection mandate for employees of federal contractors.
Filed in U.S. District Court on Nov. 23 by Health Freedom Defense Fund and U.S. Freedom Flyers, the lawsuit alleges, among other things, that “the President arrogated to himself general police powers over the lives of millions of people, which are contemplated by neither the Constitution nor any Act of Congress.”
If successful, the lawsuit could pave the way for hundreds of Alaska pilots and thousands around the nation to stay employed despite declining to take the experimental jabs.
The suit was sparked by Biden’s Sept. 9 executive order commanding all federal employees and employees of federal contractors to get Covid shots. This came after Biden repeatedly denied having any intention of enacting a nationwide vax mandate.
Plaintiffs in the case say Biden’s administration has overreached it authority in seeking to use federal agencies to dictate public health policy.
Health Freedom Defense Fund president, Leslie Manookian, said “the real driving force behind Biden’s executive order is to compel more of the U.S. population to submit to vaccination – an objective that is beyond the reach of Congress, let alone the Executive Branch. In case some in government have forgotten, we live in a constitutional republic, not a kingdom.”
Plaintiffs argue that Biden’s plan will force the termination of thousands of essential workers from critical supply-chain and transportation industries that are already over-stressed.
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The lawsuit observes that for the past 18 months there was no “urgent and compelling” circumstances justified intrusive, government-wide vax mandates.
Health Freedom Defense Fund is a non-profit legal group that fights to defend medical choice and bodily autonomy. The U.S. Freedom Flyers, is a group of airline employees and passengers, including some from Alaska, who are working to defend medical freedoms.
Up until late September, Alaska Airlines had only encouraged employees to get Covid shots. The company changed course, however, and joined other major airlines in ordering its 22,000 employees to get Covid shots in order to comply with Biden’s mandate. Employees can, however, apply for religious and medical exemptions.
Employees of Alaska Airlines have told the Alaska Watchman that the company has extended its deadline for compliance several times. According to Biden’s order, however, federal contractors have until Jan. 4, 2022, to be deemed “fully vaccinated.”
This latest lawsuit comes on the heels of a Nov. 12 U.S. Court of Appeals ruling against a separate Biden mandate that is attempting to force businesses with more than 100 employees to require Covid injections. The court ordered the Occupational Safety & Health Administration to “take no steps to implement or enforce” the private employer mandate “until further court order.”
