A law professor sued George Mason University over its coronavirus vaccine mandate, claiming he’s built a “robust natural immunity” after recovering from COVID-19 last year.
Antonin Scalia Law School professor Todd Zywicki, 55, calls the Virginia university’s requirements unconstitutional and says he shouldn’t have to get jabbed after he had the coronavirus in March 2020, according to the federal lawsuit filed Wednesday by the nonprofit New Civil Liberties Alliance.
“Common sense and medical science should underpin GMU’s actions,” alliance attorney Harriet Hageman said in a statement.
“Both have gone missing with this latest effort to force a distinguished professor to take a vaccine that he does not need—not for his own protection nor for anyone else’s safety at Scalia Law School.”
Zywicki said in the lawsuit that he has had multiple antibody tests and been advised by his doctor that he’s built immunity. Having to get a vaccination after having had the virus could be dangerous, the lawsuit claims, and the school shouldn’t be able to require vaccines that have yet to receive full FDA approval.
GMU staff face disciplinary action if they don’t get vaccinated or receive an exemption, according to the lawsuit. Discipline includes potential firing and no chance at merit-based raises if teachers and other workers don’t upload proof of the vaccination, the suit alleges.
A spokesperson for the university didn’t respond to a request for comment from The Post on Wednesday.
The school recently announced all staff need to either show proof of vaccination or get a medical or religious exemption to work on campus in Fall 2021. Workers may also get a work-from-home exemption and unvaccinated may face mask mandates and frequent testing which the lawsuit calls “burdensome, invasive, painful, and carries its own risk of physical injury.”
In a statement posted to the school’s website on July 22, university President Gregory Washington said the decision to mandate vaccinations was made in the face of the more contagious Delta variant.
“For the sake of all who are unable receive vaccination, the single most effective way to avoid the virus and stop its spread is for the rest of us to get vaccinated as soon as possible,” Washington said.
The president stated that the policy is consistent with the school’s requiring students to prove immunizations against measles and other illnesses.
“It is extended to faculty and staff for COVID-19 because the extraordinary nature of the pandemic demands it,” Washington said.
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