More than 100 firefighters from the Los Angeles Fire Department were suspended without pay over their refusal to comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The city placed 108 firefighters who had not complied with the city’s vaccine mandate on leave without pay, the LAFD’s Cheryl Getuiza told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday. This came after the department said Monday that 113 firefighters had been placed on unpaid leave, according to ABC 7.
“The number of firefighters placed off duty changes daily due to members updating their information with the city,” Getuiza said. “Today, 108 firefighters are on unpaid leave because they have chosen not to comply with the city’s mandate — to get vaccinated or file for an exemption.”
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This move came after the city sent out 222 notices in November to employees who had not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine or a medical exemption.
A measure was approved Aug. 18 by the Los Angeles City Council that required all city employees to be vaccinated by Oct. 20 unless they obtained proof of a religious or medical exemption. The city’s vaccine mandate requires unvaccinated employees to submit proof of two COVID-19 tests each week until Dec. 18, which is the vaccination deadline. Unvaccinated employees are charged a $65 fee for each test, which is deducted from their paychecks.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti moved an earlier October deadline to Dec. 18 to provide workers more time to receive their vaccinations.
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Roughly 83.17%, or 3,732 employees from the LAFD, had been vaccinated as of Monday, while roughly 321 unvaccinated employees had filed for an exemption, ABC 7 reported. Workers whose exemption requests were denied have five business days to appeal.
