HOUSTON — A former Methodist nurse who was fired after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine has lost another legal battle.
Jennifer Bridges and other fired Methodist employees sued the hospital but a district judge dismissed the lawsuit last June.
Editor's note: The video above originally aired in June of 2021.
They appealed to a higher court, but a federal judge has now also ruled against them and upheld the lower court's decision.
Houston Methodist said 153 employees either resigned or were terminated because they were unvaccinated. More than 25,000 employees were vaccinated.
The hospital defended its policy saying the vaccines have proven through rigorous trials to be safe. They say it is the employee’s sacred obligation to protect their patients by getting vaccinated.
Bridges and the other plaintiffs argued they were being forced to participate in a clinical trial.
"This claim is false, and it is also irrelevant," wrote U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes in dismissing the suit. "Bridges argues that, if she is fired for refusing to be injected with a vaccine, she will be wrongfully terminated. Vaccine safety and efficacy are not considered in adjudicating the issue.”
You can read the dismissal here.
Hughes went on to write, "Texas law only protects employees from being terminated for refusing to commit an act carrying criminal penalties to the worker."
After the FDA approved the vaccines, Bridges said she still wasn't convinced.
“What I question is if this is so safe and effective, everybody and their mother would be rushing to it,” Bridges said. “You would not have to pay people, bribe them, coerce them, threaten them to do it.”