Ingo Rademacher loses COVID-19 vaccine lawsuit against ABC after 2021 firing from General Hospital

Ingo Rademacher lost his lawsuit against ABC that he filed in December 2021 over his discharge from General Hospital after refusing to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

The 52-year-old German-Australian actor sued the network, claiming it refused to accommodate his religious objections after joining other studios in implementing vaccine mandates to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Los Angeles Supreme Court Judge Stephen Goorvitch on Monday issued a summary judgment ruling in favor of ABC’s parent company Disney, according to an article by The Hollywood Reporter.

ABC argued in its motion for summary judgment that Rademacher’s opposition to the vaccine was rooted in health concerns rather than his religious beliefs.

Goorvitch considered dueling motions for summary judgment after an April 5 hearing, ruling in favor of ABC and against Rademacher, but a detailed ruling has not yet been made.

Rademacher played Jasper ‘Jax’ Jacks on the ABC soap opera for 25 years and claimed in his lawsuit that he previously applied for a religious exemption from getting the coronavirus vaccine, after fellow cast member Steve Burton tested positive for COVID in August 2021.

His application for an exemption was denied, along with an application submitted by Burton by the TV network.

The pair have previously been outspoken opponents of the coronavirus vaccine mandate that took effect in November 2021 on a section of the set known as Zone A.

Talk show host Stephen Colbert, 59, roasted Rademacher on his late night talk show for refusing to get the Covid vaccine.

“Sorry, buddy, but you have to follow medical advice – you’re on General Hospital, not General Stuff I Read On Facebook,” Stephen joked.

In his lawsuit against ABC, Rademacher claimed religious discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination and violation of his right to privacy, among other things.

ABC argued in a motion for summary judgment filed last December that parent company Disney thoroughly vetted vaccine waiver requests on a case-by-case basis.

Rademacher claimed in an amended complaint that he was entitled to a religious exemption based on his “moral belief that my body has been endowed by my creator with natural processes to protect me and that its natural integrity cannot be ethically violated by administering of artificially created copies of genetic material, alien to nature and experimental.’

ABC countered that Rademacher’s opposition to vaccination was “rooted in health or efficacy concerns” rather than his religious beliefs.

In his final episode airing in November 2021, Rademacher’s character Jax referred to the actor’s real situation and said that he would return to Australia after falling out with those around him.

“I’m kind of out and about with everyone in Port Charles right now,” the character said.

Fans of the show shed light on the scene, interpreting that the actor had fallen specifically with castmates, including trans actor Cassandra James and Nancy Lee Grahn.

Rademacher played the friendly tycoon Jax from 1996 to 2013 and then occasionally from 2016 to 2021.

He also competed on season 16 of Dancing With The Stars in 2013, teaming up with pro dancer Kym Johnson, 46.