General Hospital Spoilers tease court papers reveal ABC is pushing for a dismissal of Ingo Rademacher’s (Jasper ‘Jax’ Jacks) lawsuit filed against the corporation in December of 2021. Although the company has dropped their mandate, they may be too little too late on that front. Ingo’s termination on the grounds that they could not accommodate his religious exemption to their Covid-19 vaccine mandate may very well have been discriminatory at the time, and the case may still have legal merit if Ingo’s attorneys can prove that. To do so, they’ll need their day in court. As ABC battles for a dismissal, it’s anyone’s guess which way it will go.
AMP in the post
General Hospital Spoilers — Ingo’s Lawsuit Alleges Religious Discrimination
Ingo’s lawsuit alleged the employer wrongfully terminated him and in doing so, discriminated against his religious rights. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from such discrimination.
While employers of private businesses are permitted to mandate vaccines in some cases, the law supports exempting individuals from such mandates who present a sincerely held religious belief so long as the employer would not bear too much burden in accommodating them.
ABC alleged they could not accommodate Rademacher. To date, no one knows if that’s true. However, Ingo’s attorneys have already shown that Disney accommodated other employees’ religious exemptions, which makes it questionable as to whether or not Rademacher’s was truly oppressive to them.
GH Spoilers – Hint ABC Dropped Their Mandate But It May Be Too Little Too Late
AMP in the post
In a predictable move, ABC dropped their vaccine mandate in November of 2022, roughly one year after instituting it. For the individuals who are still in their employ, no one will now be required to maintain an up-to-date Covid vaccination status as a term of employment. Cessation of the mandate could bring Ingo back on board at GH if all parties agreed, and it’s possible part of ABC’s intention in seeking dismissal is to settle with Ingo and allow for that relationship to continue.
However, there’s no word yet on whether Ingo would entertain such an offer, nor ABC. Although the mandate is no longer in effect, it was at the time that Ingo was terminated, and it was when he filed the lawsuit. It’s unlikely that a dismissal would be granted because a change of circumstances has occurred since, given that dropping the vaccine mandate does not reinstitute Rademacher’s job or undo damage caused by his termination. Furthermore, it doesn’t settle the overall debate at hand: did religious discrimination occur?
General Hospital Spoilers — Ingo Rademacher May Still Have Standing
Ingo may still have legal standing when all is said and done, but it will depend on which part of his lawsuit is targeted. While his religious exemption request was denied, reports have claimed Rademacher admitted he had concerns about the vaccine beyond the scope of religion. Unfortunately for him, that is generally enough under the law to negate such a request.
Rademacher’s lawsuit alleged the company had other reasons they may have wanted to terminate him, and that they used the vaccine mandate as a means to give him the ax. Until his legal team has the opportunity to bring evidence in support of such claims to light in a court of law, there is no way to affirm what Rademacher has stated. However, without such an opportunity, there’s no way to affirm ABC isn’t guilty on all accounts.
AMP in the post
ABC’s retaliation in court papers noted, “ABC’s vaccine policy was the product of an extensive deliberative process at (network parent company) Disney…Senior leaders at Disney and experts in medicine, infectious disease and infection control were part of the process to reach this important decision.”
It’s possible Rademacher’s case could be dismissed partially on the grounds that ABC didn’t make this decision on their own. However, we’ll have to wait for his attorney’s rebuttal. A hearing on the motion for dismissal is scheduled for March 13th in front of Judge Stephen I. Goorvitch. Stay tuned for more GH news and spoilers to follow this story and more as they continue to develop.