Firefighters to challenge LA's vaccine mandate – John Knox interviewed by Mike Adams on Brighteon.TV
By ramontomeydw // 2021-12-09
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Los Angeles firefighter John Knox told the Health Ranger Mike Adams that he and his fellow firefighters have filed multiple lawsuits against the city's vaccine mandate for first responders. A 21-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), Knox also heads the pro-health freedom group Firefighters For Freedom (FFF). The FFF was organized after L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine mandate for all city employees. The L.A. Times reported back in July 2021 that the city will require employees to get the vaccine. Those unable to show proof of vaccinations would be required to show a negative COVID-19 test. Garcetti later said that the city would mandate injections without the testing alternative. "Our group saw that the city [would] start imposing vaccine mandates – and we didn't agree with that, being it's a mandate. We can't get into that. So we got together, we got a board of directors together and then out of that, we put together a legal team. We [then] filed [a] suit against the city of L.A.," Knox said during the Dec. 6 episode of the "Health Ranger Report on Brighteon.TV. FFF's initial suit against the city was based on two issues: the vaccine mandate's constitutionality and vaccination being the safest way to protect the workforce and the public. The group filed a subsequent lawsuit seeking $2.1 billion in punitive damages. It alleged that the mandate gave rise to "harassment and coercion" in the LAFD. Knox said: "The second lawsuit that we filed was based on harassment and coercion. We have [a] zero harassment policy in our department; there's a whole manual on it. And now you've got senior officers and chief officers that are creating that environment." The firefighter said his group's second lawsuit seeks to stop the harassment faced by LAFD employees turning down the COVID-19 vaccine. "No one's happy right now. I've never seen morale inside of the fire service at a lower point than right now." (Related: LA requires city employees to take the coronavirus vaccine or get tested weekly.)

Knox fired for refusing the vaccine

Knox revealed to Adams that he himself had been terminated at the LAFD for refusing to comply with Garcetti's vaccine mandate. He said that 15 minutes after he clocked out of his shift, he received a letter from the city stating his noncompliance with the city's vaccine policy. According to the letter, Knox had been placed on off-duty leave without pay, pending his termination effective Dec. 18. "If you're going to be terminated here, you're going without incomes – even though you've dedicated your lives to the city and to public safety," Adams commented. Citing the Supreme Court ruling on the 1975 Skelly v. State Personnel Board case, Knox expressed optimism that he and other FFF would be reinstated as the city overstepped the state's labor laws. "There's a whole process – [it's] called the Skelly process – that has to happen before you go to a board of rights, undergo disciplinary action and be terminated. There has to be a whole process that [everyone] goes through, and the [LAFD] has violated every single rule in that process," Knox said. He added that the Skelly process entitles unlawfully terminated employees to back pay. "In the Skelly ruling, it even says that you would be reinstated with back pay. They're opening a can of worms [and] that is not good for them," Knox said. (Related: LA cops sue city over its coronavirus vaccine mandate.) "We have a preliminary injunction hearing on Dec. 20. Our termination date is technically supposed to be December 18. But if the city goes ahead and does that two days prior to that court date, that's going to throw up a lot of red flags. The judge would, I think, have some serious questions as to why they wouldn't have waited for the hearing to go through." Watch the full Dec. 6 episode of the "Health Ranger Report" at the video below. Tune in to the "Health Ranger Report" from Monday to Friday at 3-3:30 p.m. on Brighteon.TV. Resist.news has more articles about people pushing back against vaccine mandates. Sources include: Brighteon.com LATimes.com
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