Misconceptions of the Hanford/PNNL lawsuit to stop COVID-19 vaccine mandates

 

Noël Anderson

COMJOUR333

Assignment #2

May 17, 2022

 

Misconceptions of the Hanford/PNNL lawsuit to stop COVID-19 vaccine mandates

 

Photo: U.S. News

Birds eye view of the Hanford nuclear site in Richland, Washington.

The Associated Press reported that a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by hundreds of Hanford and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory workers.

Hanford nuclear reservation and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) workers in Richland, Washington issued a lawsuit over COVID-19 vaccine requirements. The lawsuit was filed in November of 2021 in response of President Joe Biden’s executive orders requiring COVID-19 vaccination for Department of Energy employees and employees of contractors and subcontractors on federal projects, The Tri-City Herald reported.

Stories from the Associated Press, and YakTriNews, a local ABC affiliate, use language that group Hanford and PNNL workers together. Failing to distinguish that only ten of the workers involved with the lawsuit are PNNL workers.

“Hanford workers make up 97% of those who brought the lawsuit,” senior public affairs advisor and newsroom manager of PNNL, Greg Koller said.

Koller said that the headlines and stories around the recently dismissed lawsuit are a bit deceiving.

“Of the 314 plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit, only ten are from PNNL,” Koller said.

U.S. Judge Thomas Rice found that lawyers for the Hanford and PNNL workers had not provided clear arguments nor specifics needed to make their case.

 

Photo: Silent Majority Foundation

Pete Serrano, director, and attorney for the Silent Majority Foundation.

Pasco City councilman, director and general counsel for the Silent Majority Foundation, Pete Serrano along with Nathan J. Arnold were the attorney’s who filed the lawsuit.

 “You know we amended the pleadings several times and brought additional evidence and information about each individual plaintiff where we could have a meeting with each plaintiff so we did everything we could to overcome that and obviously he didn’t think we did,” Serrano said.

The Silent Majority Foundation is a grass roots organization centered on protecting America’s Constitution and theological foundation, according to their website. The lawsuit they filed claims that the vaccine mandate violates 17 clauses in the Constitution including equal protection, violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), wrongful termination, breach of contract, and more.

“I’ve always wanted to serve our country. I’ve always loved the idea of challenging the government where it overreaches,” Serrano said.

Serrano is passionate about protecting Constitutional rights. The Silent Majority Foundation supports, protects, and defends the Constitution through education, advocacy, and litigation.

“I’ve always had that passion for making government accountable for claims and then obviously adhering to the United States or state Constitution or both. I believe that that was the best document that could have been produced to produce the best type of government,” Serrano said.

Hanford being government employees and PNNL being under a private contractor is an important difference when discussing vaccine mandates. Staff at PNNL are Battelle employees, not federal employees. Battelle is an independent not-for-profit organization that advances science and technology, according to the Battelle website.

When asked about the failure to distinguish Hanford employees from PNNL workers, Serrano had limited comments.

“Maybe AP had an intentional oversight that they wanted to run a story to look more attractive to one audience or not but yeah, I don’t know why that occurred,” Serrano said.

Even though U.S. Judge Rice has dismissed this lawsuit, the Silent Majority Foundation is not backing down.

“We’re in the thick of this. We’re not going anywhere,” Serrano said.

 

 

SOURCES:

Judge tosses COVID-19 vaccine objections of Hanford workers | AP News

Hanford, PNNL vaccine mandate lawsuit dismissed - YakTriNews.com

Greg Koller, senior public affairs advisor and newsroom manager: greg.koller@pnnl.gov (509)372-4864

Pete Serrano, director and attorney for the Silent Majority Foundation: pete@silentmajorityfoundation.org (530)906-9666

Photos: silent majority foundation and U.S. News