James and Timothy Wahl had cited religious reasons for not adhering to the vaccine mandate imposed by ABC on “General Hospital” employees. Variety further explained that the network declared they could not be exempted because of restrictions across the entertainment industry that were created to allow productions to continue. Much like the cases of Steve Burton and Ingo Rademacher, ABC did not accept the assertion that religious beliefs prevented them from getting vaccinated.
Judge Stephen I. Goorvitch wants to learn whether or not the network worked to coordinate with the Wahls to determine if there was actually any risk in them being in proximity of other employees. He stated that “The jury, not the judge, must resolve whether Plaintiffs [the Wahls] had genuine religious beliefs and whether Defendant [ABC] could have reasonably accommodated Plaintiffs without posing an undue hardship,” according to Variety.
Dominick Nuzzi, vice president of production for Disney ABC TV Group, had explained in a prior deposition that there had been executive talks to determine whether or not to exempt the Wahls from the mandate but decided against it, according to the Hollywood Reporter. According to the new court order, Nuzzi’s “testimony suggests that Defendant may have initially believed one of the plaintiffs, which supports both cases: Plaintiffs are father and son, and there is sufficient evidence in the record that they share the same belief system.” The court further noted that the firing of the Wahls would have caused them great financial difficulties.
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
247
