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Former ESPN employees Allison Williams and Beth Faber are suing the sports giant after “being fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine” as they allege the company’s requirement “violated religious freedom rights.”
- Allison Williams and Beth Faber opposed the Covid-19 vaccine on religious grounds, which they allege led to their dismissal from the four-letter network.
- Williams worked as a sideline reporter for college sports during her career at ESPN.
- Both she and Faber allege that their request for religious exemptions was denied.
- The lawsuit filed in the US District Court in CT. says the couple was laid off in 2021
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Two former ESPN employees are suing the sports company, alleging that they were fired for not complying with their covid-19 vaccination mandate.
A federal lawsuit was presented on wednesday on behalf of the plaintiffs, Allison Williams and Beth Faber, in the US District Court in Connecticut.
Williams was a reporter for ‘The Worldwide Leader in Sports’, while Faber was a long-time producer. Both were fired at the end of 2021. Williams and Faber opposed the vaccine on religious and disability grounds. His waiver appeals were denied, reportedly leading to his dismissal.
The lawsuit claims that ESPN made “no serious attempt” to “accommodate” them. The sports network and its parent company, The Walt Disney Company, are listed as defendants.
Allison Williams, along with her former colleague Beth Faber, is suing ESPN after being fired
‘forcing [them] Choosing between continued employment and a violation of their religious beliefs in order to preserve their livelihood places a substantial burden on plaintiffs’ ability to conduct themselves in accordance with their sincerely held religious beliefs,” attorney Christopher Dunn wrote in the lawsuit.
Both Faber and Williams allege they suffered ‘discrimination… based on their religious beliefs’. The plaintiffs are seeking a trial by jury in all matters so deemed.
Williams, who has been outspoken about vaccine mandates, worked for FOX Sports on the sidelines of college football this season. The reporter started at ESPN in 2010.
Williams worked as a sideline reporter for the network during numerous football games.
Meanwhile, Faber was hired by ESPN in 1991 and was with the company for more than three decades. According to the lawsuit, Faber reported that he “was required to receive a covid-19 vaccine” and that “preferential treatment would be given to those fully vaccinated.”
ESPN denied his request for a religious exemption on the grounds, among other things, that he had failed to provide “validation from a priest” to support his position, according to the lawsuit.
Faber was subsequently told to accept ESPN’s vaccination mandate, apply for open positions within the company that did not require such qualifications, or she would be “separated” from employment at the Bristol-based entity. She was fired on September 9, 2021, according to the lawsuit.
Williams had been with the network since 2010 and typically worked on the sidelines of college sports.
Meanwhile, Williams sought a waiver because she was undergoing IVF at the time and had concerns about the unknown effects the vaccine would have on her unborn fetus.
He Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that “there is currently no evidence that any vaccine, including COVID-19 vaccines, causes fertility problems in women or men.”
It was alleged that the ESPN mandate also contravened Williams’ Christian beliefs. He claimed he had natural immunity to covid-19 and offered other solutions, such as wearing a mask, though his request for an exemption was also denied on religious grounds. Williams was told that she “had a week to get the Covid-19 vaccine or she would be fired.”
Williams refused to be vaccinated and was consequently fired on Oct. 19, 2021, according to the lawsuit.
Williams and her husband welcomed a second child in July 2022.
In October, Williams spoke with FOX News’ Tucker Carlson about his departure from ESPN. Initially, Williams believed he could do his job “safely and efficiently” in the same way he did in the fall of 2020 when he wore a mask and underwent weekly tests.
But the company required that all employees traveling to the events be fully vaccinated as of August 1 with no “exemptions of any kind.”
“I really felt like I could do my job virtually without being a risk to other people,” she explained.
‘When we allow corporations or governments to tell us what is best for our health. That’s a scary place to be,’ Williams said, pointing to vaccination mandates ordered by major corporations, federal and local governments last fall.
“That’s un-American which is not what happens in the land of the free.”