ABC Faces Trial Over ‘General Hospital’ COVID Vaccination Wrongful Termination Lawsuit
variety.comWilliam Earl A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has denied ABC’s bid to dismiss the COVID vaccination wrongful termination case filed by a father and son who ran the construction and special effects department for ABC’s “General Hospital.” James Wahl and his son Timothy Wahl sued ABC in 2021, asserting they were fired from the long-running daytime serial when they refused to get a COVID-19 vaccination on religious grounds.
On the heels of Judge Stephen I. Goorvitch’s Feb. 20 order denying ABC’s motion to dismiss the case, the sides are set to meet March 11 to confer on a trial date.
Goorvitch rejected ABC’s assertion of doubt that the Wahls’ objection to the COVID vaccination were based in firm religious beliefs.
ABC argued that the pair’s roles were such that they could not receive an exemption to its strict COVID vaccination policy, given the industry-wide restrictions imposed during the pandemic to allow TV and film production to resume. “The jury, not the judge, must resolve whether Plaintiffs [the Wahls] had genuine religious beliefs and whether Defendant [ABC] could have reasonably accommodated Plaintiffs without posing an undue hardship,” Goorvitch wrote.
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