PHOENIX — A judge has squelched a bid by a federal worker to sue President Biden over the vaccine mandate without his name becoming public.
In a six-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Michael Liburdi rejected claims by Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Jack Wilenchik, the employee’s lawyer, that disclosing his name would subject him to retaliation for refusing to be vaccinated as the president has ordered. The judge said the worker was at no greater risk than any other federal employee who is balking at the mandate.
Liburdi specifically rejected the claims by Brnovich and Wilenchik that the employee had reason to fear because the president and others in his administration “have made a host of ominous threatening comments related to their vaccine mandate.”
The judge acknowledged that at one point the president did say that his “patience is wearing thin” with Americans who choose not to get vaccinated. But Liburdi rejected the contention that statement could in any way be construed as a threat.
“The statement does not contain a threat — direct or veiled,” the judge wrote. “Even assuming the statement was a threat, it can reasonably be construed as ‘frustration’ or ‘political commentary’ as opposed to ‘a true intent to harm.”’
Liburdi said if Brnovich and Wilenchik do not refile the complaint by Monday with the worker’s true name, he will be dropped as a plaintiff from the lawsuit.
Despite the ruling, Brnovich remains adamant the president is still guilty of exerting pressure, if not on this specific employee then everyone else covered by the order.
“It’s shameful that the Biden administration is intimidating Americans to push unconstitutional vaccine mandates,” said press aide Katie Conner in a prepared statement.
And Wilenchik said there is reason for his client to fear some retribution.
“One of the reasons we wanted to keep his name confidential is the Biden administration has shown an unnerving pattern of going after people and wants to know who they are,” he said, saying there are efforts to find out who was involved in leaking details from a laptop that had been stolen last year from Ashley Biden, the president’s daughter. “So it’s a real concern.”
But Wilenchik said Thursday that, given the court ruling, his client is willing to go public. He identified him as Al Reble, a federal marshal who works for the U.S. Department of Justice.
The lawsuit, filed in September, argues the president has no authority to impose vaccine requirements on federal workers. He also is challenging a separate presidential order mandating that entities with federal contracts also have employees inoculated against COVID-19.
