Lawsuit seeking sanctions against Deters Law in COVID-19 vaccine case dismissed - The Cincinnati Enquirer
A federal judge in Northern Kentucky dismissed a lawsuit accusing the Deters Law firm of litigating in "bad faith" in its attempt to block COVID-19 vaccine mandates at hospitals in the area.
U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning denied a motion for sanctions filed by St. Elizabeth Healthcare against the Independence, Kentucky-based firm Wednesday, writing that "the court must move forward."
"As this court previously stated in September, this case is about conditions of employment, and whether a private employer can modify those conditions to require vaccinations in response to a global health pandemic," Bunning wrote in his order. "Unfortunately for plaintiffs, the answer is yes – and just the same as the court wrote in September, that remains true irrespective of the vitriol and animus that has unfortunately come out of this lawsuit and the COVID-19 pandemic."
"Equally true is that the world, these parties, and the court must move forward, and with that in mind, this lawsuit is finally dismissed," the order continued.
Eric Deters, a spokesman for Deters Law, said via text he agreed with the court's decision, writing: "We tried. Supreme Court has spoken. No basis for sanctions when four justices agreed with us." A spokesman for St. Elizabeth did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In court filings, the law firm argued its lawsuit was "not frivolous" given the margin of the 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing health centers that are federally funded through Medicare and Medicaid to continue with vaccine mandates.
Last week, a federal judge in Cincinnati agreed to the dismissal of the firm's lawsuit that sought to block vaccine mandates at five southwest Ohio hospital systems.
Deters Law first filed two lawsuits against St. Elizabeth shortly after the medical center announced it was going to require its employees to become vaccinated against COVID-19 last August. In September, Bunning allowed the health care system to keep its vaccine mandate in place, saying that he would abide by a 1905 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a smallpox vaccine law in Massachusetts.
"Actual liberty for all of us cannot exist where individual liberties override potential injury done to others," Bunning said in a 20-page decision.
The judge subsequently rejected a request to reconsider his original decision.
source: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2022/02/02/lawsuit-seeking-sanctions-against-deters-law-vaccine-case-dismissed-covid-19/9318954002/
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