Lights! Camera! COVID! Actor refuses vaccination, loses role and lawsuit

The COVID-19 pandemic created unique circumstances for addressing common employment problems. Do vaccination mandates invade an employee’s privacy? Must an employer except a medical exemption from a vaccination, and is a failure to do so disability discrimination? What is a reasonable accommodation? All these issues, and Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, were discussed in a recent case from the California Court of Appeal.

Hollywood’s COVID workplace restrictions

In March 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statewide stay-at-home order in response to COVID-19, instructing residents to leave their homes only when necessary. The order shut down all but essential businesses.

In response to the pandemic, California filming production closed in 2020 and would not resume until producers and unions negotiated agreements about COVID-19 safety protocols. In 2020, Apple Studios retained experts to advise it on COVID-19 vaccine efficacy. The consultations continued and included updates as new data became available. One study showed vaccines were “highly effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19.”

Hollywood trade groups and unions reached a “Return to Work Agreement” in September 2020. The goal was to resume film productions safely. The agreement stated each individual had the “responsibility and duty to comply with those protocols and procedures, not only for the individual’s own protection, but also for the protection of others in the workplace.”

An Apple workday keeps the doctor away