Attorney General Mark Brnovich is suing the city of Tucson for mandating its employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 last August, alleging the mandateβs implementation was discriminatory and violated state law.
The Arizona Attorney Generalβs office filed a civil complaint in Maricopa County Superior Court on Tuesday outlying allegations that the city βdiscriminated against employees based on disability and/or religion, and engaged in a pattern or practice of discriminationβ when it mandated employees get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the complaint.
City officials were not able to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday.
The Tucson City Council voted in August 2021 to require its more than 4,000 employees to get vaccinated or face five-day, unpaid suspensions. But a slew of legal challenges and new direction from the council continuously pushed back the mandateβs effective date.
Employees could qualify for exemptions from the mandate because of a disability or a sincerely held religious belief by submitting an accommodation request to human resources.
But enforcement of the mandate was paused after a Sept. 7 decision from Brnovich declared the mandate is illegal. Weeks later, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge struck down a group of state laws, including a law that had barred local governments from mandating certain COVID-19 mitigation measures, giving Tucson the go-ahead to enforce the mandate.
Unvaccinated employees could be subject to weekly testing requirements, more stringent mask-wearing guidelines, travel restrictions and eligibility restrictions for certain assignments, while vaccinated employees could be rewarded with a floating holiday and restoration of 80 hours of pandemic leave.
City Manager Michael Ortega previously said about 300 employees could face suspensions for violating the mandate last October, but that those suspensions would be scattered throughout the year. Itβs unknown how many have, and have yet, to be issued suspensions.
Brnovichβs civil complaint alleges the mandate was discriminatory because the city βsubjected employees who could not comply with (the cityβs) vaccine directives because of sincerely-held religious beliefs and/or disability to discipline,β the complaint says, adding at least 377 employees requested medical exemptions and 352 requested religious accommodations.
Itβs unclear how many city employees were granted and denied exemptions to the vaccine mandate.
βTucson dictated a widespread vaccine mandate without regard to its impact on the liberties and civil rights of its employees,β Brnovich said in a news release Tuesday. βMany of those affected are first responders, and itβs our turn to be there for them. The cityβs misguided vaccine mandate is an ugly example of government overreach that we must vigorously oppose.β
The attorney general is asking the court to order Tucson to pay back any employees who were suspended for violating the mandate, require the city to train management and mayor and council on βdisability-based and religion-based discrimination in the workplaceβ and to issue a public apology.
Brnovich ran for election to the U.S. Senate this year but lost in the Republican primary. His term as the stateβs top law enforcement officer expires in January.
