….A group of Los Angeles Police Department employees filed a federal lawsuit Sept. 11 against the City of Los Angeles, saying a city ordinance that makes a Covid vaccine a condition of city employment violates the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the California Constitution, the federal Supremacy Clause and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The suit says despite the stated availability of religious exemptions to the mandate in one part of the ordinance, another section makes the vaccine a prerequisite for promotions and transfers, with no religious or medical exemption.

The Pacific Justice Institute, which represents the Los Angeles police employees, said the city never provided a means to submit requests for exemptions before the Sept. 7 deadline to show proof of vaccination. The city set up a portal for applications on Friday, Sept. 10 and closed it down after 72 hours. Since making requests for medical or religious exemptions, employees have “endured an onslaught of hostile demands, threats of being terminated, and accusations from commanding officers, ”the lawsuit reads, “such as statements that they lack ‘sympathy and caring’ for Covid-19 issues and that they are ‘unfit to wear the uniform.’”

A police captain, acting as the chief duty officer, appeared at a roll call and advised those present that the “city is willing to let go of the roughly 3,000 officers not vaccinated,” the lawsuit said. Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, said his clients were “shamed and cheated” out of their constitutionally protected rights. “We have asked the court to required the city to respect and immediately accommodate employees who have sincerely held religious beliefs,” Dacus said in a statement….
The above comes from a Sept. 22 story in Catholic World Report.