Posted on 04/21/2022 3:20:52 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The commander of a Norfolk, Virginia-based U.S. Navy destroyer was recently reassigned to onshore duties after a federal appeals court stayed a lower court decision that had allowed him to stay with the ship despite refusing the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine.
The Daily Press reported Wednesday that the commander, who remains unnamed in legal filings, was reassigned after U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit stayed U.S. District Court Judge Steven Merryday’s injunction. The lower court’s injunction had previously prevented the Navy from relieving him of the ship’s command despite being unvaccinated against COVID-19.
The Navy destroyer was due to deploy on April 11. In a recent filing before Merryday’s court, the officer’s lawyer notified the judge that he had been informed on April 8 that he had been reassigned to shore duties for 60 days as part of a new Navy policy that prohibits unvaccinated sailors from deploying on Navy ships.
Merryday’s injunction had previously prevented the service from taking any punitive action against the commander, including removing him from his post on the warship and replacing him. During the injunction, the Navy refused to allow the ship to deploy out to sea while the unvaccinated commander remained on the ship, arguing that his vaccination status posed a risk of disease transmission on the ship.
Liberty Counsel, the non-profit group representing the Navy commander, said that even as the service argued that the unvaccinated commander could not deploy, he “was commanding his warfare surface ship far out at sea doing drills, training and testing the ship and its crew for mission readiness.”
Despite winning an injunction from Judge Merryday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the Merryday’s ruling.
Last month, U.S. Supreme Court issued a partial stay on a similar injunction, which had barred the Navy from taking punitive actions against unvaccinated Navy SEALs. The Supreme Court’s partial stay of the injunction prevents the Navy from taking any disciplinary actions against those SEAls for now, but allows the Navy to pull them from planned deployments.
The 11th Appeals Court cited the Supreme Court’s decision in the similar case.
Despite the Supreme Court’s partial stay on an injunction against the Navy, several lawsuits against the military continue to work their way through the lower courts.
Last month, the Navy had to pause separations for more than 4,000 sailors who had remained unvaccinated for religious reasons after a federal judge granted class certification in a class-action lawsuit brought by unvaccinated service members. Judge Reed O’Connor granted class certification for sailors remaining unvaccinated due to religious exemptions and granted an injunction to block the Navy from separating sailors who were previously denied religious exemptions.
Getting rid of the good ones.
He can probably get it back if he turns trans
Why even say why not.
Just say: No.
Why even bother trying to claim a religious or medical exemption? From what I hear, anyone in the U.S. who ever tried to do that anywhere was only rewarded with humiliation except for the rare few represented by the right lawyers.
Just accept whatever happens. Sit back and wait as you are processed out of service. Wait for a future president who is a decent human being, and who loves this country, to apologize on behalf of the U.S. federal government for the tyrannical injustice done to you by Brandon and his henchmen and offer to reinstate you, with back pay, and maybe a lost promotion if that proves possible. Move on from there, and when you have the opportunity, try to teach those around you the definition of moral courage.
You’d be wrong. My son works at nasa for a contractor. He claimed a religious exemption with no problem. They made him test if he had to go to the office. That was it.
Good work, pentagon. Save the sailors from slight possibility of contracting the occasionally somewhet uncomfortable cold that is COVID. Well, actually the vaccines don’t do that, you still get it but nobody notices, vaccine or not. Whatever, good work I guess.
Rara avis?
What’s that?
Your son works for a private company, so his example is not proof of FedGov relaxing its drive to purge itself of self-respecting refuseniks.
Lost his command billet. Career over unless Trump or his functional equivalent returns to power in January 2025.
I'd desert and do five years at Leavenworth before I'd serve under President Big Guy.
Rare bird.
Obumagabe began the great purge during his reign of terror. I forgot how many flag officers lost commands during that time. Joe's handlers are continuing the purge.
Soon, only the most woke, least patriotic and most likely to fire on US civilians will remain.
Government contractors were under the same atrocity as government employees.
I think the Brandon Administration was handed an early defeat by an Article III judge on vexxationation mandate for employees of federal contractors. So your son was dealing with a private sector mandate, thankfully not nearly as ruthlessly enforced. I’m sure you are counting your blessings and his. Some other dads were not so lucky.
Saw an article from late March where the last nails were driven into the coffin of the federal contractor vax mandate.
The following law firm article is from December 2021. Even then, the blatant illegitimacy of the federal contractor vax mandate was beginning to become clear to most sentient adults.
Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate Blocked
Nationwide
Article
12.08.2021
On December 7, 2021, a U.S. District Judge temporarily blocked—
nationwide—implementation of the Administration’s “federal contractor and
subcontractor vaccination mandate,” a mandate which would have required
that all employees of an employer with a “covered contract” be vaccinated
against COVID-19 no later than January 8, 2022. As a result, as of the date
of this article, no employer in the United States is bound by that mandate.
But that could change.
We recently reported on the issuance of a stay blocking the same federal
contractor mandate in three states—Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. But
here, Judge R. Stan Baker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District
of Georgia went a step further and enjoined the federal contractor mandate
nationwide. In doing so, the Court stated: “The Court ORDERS that
Defendants are ENJOINED, during the pendency of this action or until
further order of this Court, from enforcing the vaccine mandate for federal
contractors and subcontractors in all covered contracts in any state or
territory of the United States of America.”
The Court cited, with approval, Judge Van Tatenhove’s Nov. 30 opinion
blocking the same mandate in three states. While Judge Baker noted and
acknowledged that vaccinations are effective, he was clear that that was
not the question before the Court. Ultimately, in issuing the nationwide
preliminary injunction, he determined that the “Plaintiffs will likely succeed
on their claim that [President Biden] exceeded the authorization given to
him by Congress through the Federal Property and Administrative Services
Act” when it issued the mandate. That Act governs federal procurement
and generally gives the President broad authority over the same.
While this court decision temporarily blocks implementation of the federal
contractor mandate against any entity in the United States, it is still
important for employers to determine whether the mandate would or could
apply to them. This is because uncertainty for employers remains—
particularly regarding whether this injunction blocking the mandate will stay
in place. In other words, even though this ruling halts the federal contractor mandate for now, the ruling could be reversed on appeal. Employers should be prepared for the fact that despite
issuance of the nationwide preliminary injunction, an appeals court could reinstate the mandate at any time.
Nexsen Pruet’s Employment and Labor Law Team continues to evaluate and closely monitor all developments
surrounding the COVID-19 mandates, particularly as it relates to employers and COVID-19 vaccinations. Please contact
any of our Team’s lawyers if you need assistance with any of these issues, or if you need guidance on how best to
move forward in light of these ever-evolving developments.
....the alleged Covid virus has a 99% recovery rate. The Navy’s Commander in Chief is clearly and indisputably crippled in his head and thus his decisions are made by others.
Carlos Del Toro is Secretary of the Navy and is where he is because the marxists in the white house needed a “person of color” to occupy the Sec/Nav office.
Carlos tows the Marxist Line about Covid and has no guts to stand up to Biden’s handlers or their Sec/Def Austin. So, the young officer loses his job because he did have guts and stood up against the insanity of the jab.
His company actually added vax to their contract so he was very fortunate.
I’m close enough to retiring that I could survive getting fired. He’s new to the career.
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