ENCINITAS — In the wake of a former employee’s religious discrimination lawsuit against the City of Encinitas over its now-defunct COVID-19 vaccine mandate, other ex-workers are sharing similar accounts, raising questions about whether the city crossed a line between zealous advocacy of public health and constitutional overreach.
In October 2023, Scott Vurbeff, a Christian and former city environmental project manager, sued the city after being fired for not complying with a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy for employees. The city denied Vurbeff’s religious exemption request, prompting his dismissal after over 20 years of employment.
The Encinitas City Council met on Aug. 14 in closed session to discuss the status of the Vurbeff case.
Since The Coast News published news of the lawsuit last month and in the face of anti-vaccine social stigma, several former employees of the City of Encinitas have come forward claiming that, like Vurbeff, their legitimate faith-based requests were denied, forcing them out of their positions and into unemployment, early retirement, or difficult job searches.
Most of the religious exemption requests to the city’s vaccine requirement were denied without accommodation or much explanation, according to former employees and internal city emails obtained by The Coast News.
However, the phenomenon was not isolated to San Diego County. An increasing number of U.S. workers have claimed to experience religious discrimination related to vaccine requirements in the workplace.
In September 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported a six-fold nationwide increase in workers’ religious discrimination claims from the previous year, data the agency attributed largely to significant increases in COVID-19 vaccine-related religious discrimination.
Among several leading faith-based arguments against vaccinations, many Catholics and Christians opposed the COVID-19 vaccine due to manufacturer Johnson & Johnson’s use of cell lines, or cloned copies of cells, from voluntarily aborted fetuses in the development stage.
Some members of these faiths, opposed to abortion, argued that the use of fetal cell lines “is related to the illicit killing or suffering of a being,” according to a peer-reviewed research paper published last year.
Health officials have clarified that the COVID-19 vaccine itself does not contain fetal cells, which were laboratory-grown from elective abortions in the 1970s and thousands of generations removed from the original tissue. Pfizer and Moderna did not use fetal cell lines to create or produce their vaccine but used them to “confirm efficacy.” Novavax didn’t use fetal cells in any phase of its vaccine production.
“(Religious) guidance has made it clear that it is wrong to create abortion-derived cell lines and for pharmaceutical companies to utilize them, that the use of vaccines produced with such cell lines should be avoided if comparable alternatives with no connection to abortion are available,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote in January 2021. “Given that the COVID-19 virus can involve serious health risks, it can be morally acceptable to receive a vaccine that uses abortion-derived cell lines if there are no other available vaccines comparable in safety and efficacy with no connection to abortion.”
Over the last four years, San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency officials have reported 1,028,402 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases, 42,580 hospitalizations, and 6,389 deaths countywide.
In June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the newest COVID-19 vaccine and recommended that everyone 6 months and older get an updated shot. The latest vaccines are expected to be available in fall 2024.
Faith, vaccines and courts
Traditionally, and in earlier stages of the pandemic, courts have granted municipalities considerable leeway when considering potential constitutional violations arising from policies adopted in response to local and national emergencies.
In recent months, however, several lawsuits, court rulings, and high-profile settlements nationwide have shown more deference to legal arguments that vaccine mandates infringed upon certain individuals’ religious liberties.
In 2023, the EEOC filed lawsuits against a Florida furniture store and national healthcare provider for failing to grant employees religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Hank’s Furniture settled the case, paying the worker $100,000 in lost wages and compensatory damages. The case against United Healthcare is still in court.
This summer, the Navy and Department of Defense settled a lawsuit over a COVID-19 vaccine mandate involving 36 sailors in the Special Warfare community, paying $1.5 million in attorney fees, according to a July 24 report by the U.S. Naval Institute.
Five days later, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of an Orthodox Jewish former Philadelphia assistant district attorney who sued after the DA’s Office rejected her religious exemption request to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate and fired her when she subsequently didn’t get vaccinated.
For Encinitas, the legal thornbush over religious exemptions arose from the city’s voluntary adoption of a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy. In San Diego County, the cities of Encinitas, Del Mar, and San Diego were the only municipalities that had enacted vaccine mandates for their employees, which foreshadowed President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for all federal employees and contractors.
Citing increased vaccinations and declining hospitalization rates and deaths, the city of Encinitas moved to rescind its vaccination policy in April 2023, stating that the “current state of the pandemic is more manageable and no longer necessitates the city … to require, monitor or track COVID-19 vaccinations.”
City spokesperson Lois Yum told The Coast News that all laws and guidelines were followed during the religious exemption review process.
“Applications for exemption were reviewed and processed in accordance with state and federal law by the Director of Human Resources,” Yum said. “As with the (Family Medical Leave Act), (Americans with Disabilities Act), and other health-related matters, all exemption-related information is managed by Human Resources, in consultation with the City’s labor counsel, and is confidential by law. The City Manager was not involved in the exemption process.”
‘I couldn’t believe it’
Laura Ferguson, 57, a single mother of two sons and a former executive assistant to the city manager, told The Coast News that she was among several employees terminated in October 2021 for not complying with the city’s mandatory vaccination policy due to religious beliefs.
Ferguson, hired in 2017 by former city manager Karen Brust, said she enjoyed her job at the city and felt a strong sense of trust and camaraderie with her co-workers.
Before coming to Encinitas, Ferguson worked in local government for approximately 23 years. A former San Clemente City Council member and mayor pro tem, Ferguson also served in roles with the Oceanside Police Department and Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO.
As one of the Encinitas city manager’s right-hand assistants, Ferguson was busy with daily interdepartmental communications, reviewing agenda reports, updating municipal code, helping residents navigate services, managing the city manager’s schedule and more.
“I loved my job. I enjoyed it tremendously,” Ferguson said. “(Brust) had built an incredible organization with strong, talented people. I also really enjoyed working for (Antil). I loved the organization and all the people that worked there.”
However, after COVID-19 struck, a series of policy decisions would clash with her religious convictions, upending her life and career.
While the pandemic disrupted every aspect of daily life, Ferguson said the city quickly pivoted to allow most employees to work from home with laptops and full remote access to City Hall, a benefit of an innovative IT department.
During the transition, Ferguson worked daily at the office to keep things moving. Just two months into the pandemic, Brust retired as city manager and director of emergency services, the latter a role she inherited under a local emergency proclamation.
In October 2020, the city hired City Manager Pamela Antil as her replacement. Over the next year, the city developed protocols for employees to slowly return to in-person work, including mandatory masking and social distancing requirements.
Throughout the pandemic, Antil frequently emailed staff with the latest local, state and federal public health guidance. By early June 2021, confirmed COVID-19 cases had dropped to less than 100 per day but started ramping up again in July, according to county health data.
Since the vaccine became publicly available in December 2020, Antil frequently pushed unvaccinated staff to “please do your part NOW,” advising that “all employment law roads are leading to a likely federal, state or local mandate for vaccines.” At this time, the vaccine was widely available under emergency use authorization but lacked FDA approval until August 2021.
“As public servants, we’re held to a higher standard than the general public,” Antil wrote in an internal email dated July 29, 2021. “If you are medically able to be vaccinated and have not done so, please do yourself, your family, and all of us on Team Encinitas (a favor) and PLEASE GET VACCINATED! Waiting for herd immunity or believing myths and conspiracy theories about the vaccine is prolonging the pandemic and causing more aggressive variants to develop. So far, opponents of vaccine mandates haven’t had much luck in court when challenging the requirements of employers who have already mandated the vaccine.”
Antil ended the email by saying, “A big thank you to the 66% of you who have been vaccinated and are contributing to keeping yourself, each other, and the community safe.”
While most city staff had reportedly received the vaccine, not all employees were enthusiastic about Antil’s push toward a fully vaccinated workforce. In an anonymous letter sent to the city manager on Aug. 17, one “concerned employee” expressed “disappointment” over the city manager’s frequent messaging targeting unvaccinated staff.
“How dare you say ‘show some respect for yourself…’ That’s just flat-out wrong,” the employee’s letter reads. “It’s my body and my choice. It’s not right of you to make those unvaccinated or who don’t wish to share their status feel as if we’re bad people or as if we are doing something wrong. I feel like I’m being discriminated against, especially by you.”
Outside the workplace, Antil also shared her position on social media, updating her personal Facebook cover photo with posts and memes seemingly mocking hesitancy about the COVID-19 vaccine.
“If you’ve ever used the same sponge to wash your dishes for more than a few days, don’t worry about what’s in the vaccine,” one post read.
Another post read, “Them: I’d take a bullet for my country. Me: You won’t even take a needle for your neighbors. Sit down.”
On Aug. 25, 2021, two days after the FDA approved the COVID-19 vaccine, Antil, acting in her capacity as the city’s director of emergency services, implemented Administrative Policy No. 048, establishing workplace protocols requiring all city employees to vaccinate or present weekly negative COVID-19 tests.
Under the new rule, Ferguson and several others without the COVID-19 vaccine were subject to weekly testing and mask-wearing protocols.
“Those who didn’t show proof of vaccinations had to wear masks and socially distance themselves,” Ferguson said. “Then, they brought in health professionals to do testing. For several weeks, the unvaccinated would go in every Wednesday and test before the workday.”
The policy also stated vaccinations would become mandatory by Oct. 7, 2021, and that all current and prospective employees, volunteers, and contractors at city facilities were required to be vaccinated and stay current on all recommended booster shots.
For Ferguson, a devout practicing Catholic, the city’s vaccination mandate thrust herself and others into a mare’s nest of fear and anxiety, choosing between losing their jobs and violating their religious beliefs.
“I’m a single mom with two sons in high school, but that’s something I wouldn’t compromise,” Ferguson said. “I couldn’t believe it was happening.”
The city kept pushing for a fully vaccinated workplace, even offering vaccinated workers a cash incentive of up to $2,500. The “wellness incentive” program proposed handing out $383,500 to eligible frontline workers as a reward for their service during the early days of the pandemic and as an incentive for unvaccinated workers to receive the vaccine.
“To be eligible, the permanent employee must be fully vaccinated or receive a single dose vaccine or the first dose of a two-dose vaccine no later than October 7, 2021, and become fully vaccinated by receiving a required second dose of a two-dose vaccine,” the city’s program criteria states.
When media outlets asked Antil if this was a “pay to get vaccinated” program, she responded, “Yes and no.”
“It is a wellness incentive to recognize the work employees did during the pandemic prior to the vaccine being available AND an incentive for employees to get vaccinated to keep their co-workers and the community safe since we work in a public setting,” Antil wrote in response to a reporter’s inquiry about the program.
A city spokesperson denied that the one-time payment was available only to vaccinated employees but declined to provide additional information.
Shortly after the policy took effect, Ferguson said she met with Antil and Assistant City Manager Jennifer Campbell to discuss the mandate and her concerns about the vaccine.
During the meeting, Ferguson said Antil assured her everything would be fine once she submitted her religious exemption request to Tom Bokosky, then the city’s director of human resources.
Following routine COVID-19 testing on Sept. 19, 2021, Ferguson, who was asymptomatic, tested positive for COVID-19 and immediately went home to self-quarantine. During her isolation, she submitted a detailed letter to Bokosky outlining her spiritual beliefs and reasons for opposing the vaccine.
‘It’s not the America I grew up in’
On the morning of Oct. 7, 2021, the deadline for “employees to show proof of vaccination or face discipline, including termination,” Antil informed several administrators and elected officials about what to expect.
“…Today, HR will also be letting those employees who submitted their religious and medical exemptions (know) the outcome of their request,” Antil wrote in an internal email obtained by The Coast News. “Most requests have been denied under close work and scrutiny by HR and our labor attorney. Unvaccinated employees in this group will be placed on immediate leave and will be asked to leave the building; email will be disabled and keys turned in. During this leave, they will be able to reconsider their vaccination status.
“In the meantime, we’ve had 10 additional employees get vaccinated since Monday,” Antil continued. “We expect more to adhere to the policy today upon notification that their exemption request is denied. Sheriff’s deputy in the building as a precautionary measure.”
The same day, Bokosky informed Ferguson that the city had received her letter requesting a religious exemption but was denying the request. According to Ferguson, Bokosky placed her on 30-day unpaid leave but suggested she could continue working if she got vaccinated.
“It was a very stressful situation,” Ferguson said. “I’m about freedom and choice in every possible definition. I believe it should be a choice for someone to get vaccinated. I believe other protocols in place (masking, testing, social distancing, isolation) worked well. But (the city) thought differently.”
Ferguson left the HR office with a “feeling of emptiness in her stomach” and gathered her personal belongings. Before leaving, she placed a project on Antil’s desk, washed her coffee mug, and left the “eerily quiet” building.
According to Ferguson, none of the other unvaccinated employees she worked with had their religious exemption requests approved. One source informed The Coast News that the city initially approved one worker’s request but later withdrew it before firing them.
The following day, on Oct. 8, Campbell sent a letter to Ferguson confirming what Bokosky told her regarding being placed on 30-day unpaid leave. The letter reads, in part, “Although the city is not obligated to provide you with accommodation, the city is offering you a 30-day leave without pay.” Campbell also suggested using accrued vacation time during that time period.
Nearly three weeks later, on Oct. 27, Bokosky sent a follow-up letter informing Ferguson of a change to her leave status from “unpaid accommodation” to “paid accommodation,” retroactive to Oct. 8, 2021. In the letter, Bokosky also invited Ferguson to participate in a discussion regarding her exemption request.
For the first time in her life, Ferguson, then a 54-year-old working mother of two children, filed for unemployment. According to a letter from the California Employment Development Department, Ferguson was not eligible for unemployment because she quit her job.
“It was a double whammy,” Ferguson said. “I was beside myself. Being unemployed was very daunting for me.”
Ferguson appealed the EDD’s decision, and a judge ruled in her favor, allowing her to receive retroactive unemployment payments dating back to her termination date of Jan. 11, 2022.
Instead of filing a lawsuit against the city, Ferguson and others opted for settlement agreements. As part of the deal, Ferguson waived her right to public records requests about her dismissal and released the city from further legal liability in exchange for a one-time $80,000 payment, plus $20,000 to her attorney for legal fees.
Ferguson said the deal was never about money but rather defending her religious values and the right to choose what she puts in her body. While the experience soured her experience working in local government, Ferguson said she has no regrets about her time in Encinitas.
“It was a wonderful experience (working at the city), but it’s nice to have the whole experience in my rearview,” Ferguson said. “The people and community are amazing, and my time there was incredibly positive and rewarding, so I am trying to focus on that. But I was sad to see it end the way it did. It’s not the America that I grew up in. It’s too bad.”
‘You weren’t welcome there’
In 1996, Encinitas resident Mark Piskor started working for the city, moving around maintenance departments for several years before landing at the San Dieguito Water District.
For 24 years, Piskor, a lifelong Catholic, worked for the water department near the city’s public works yard on a 4.4-acre property at 160 Calle Magdalena near the In-N-Out restaurant.
And then COVID-19 struck, forcing the 62-year-old into early retirement over a mandatory vaccination policy that violated his religious beliefs.
Like many others deemed “essential workers,” including public works employees, firefighters, and law enforcement, Piskor continued to work in the field throughout the pandemic. On most workdays, he wore a city-issued polyester neck gaiter or N95 mask.
After the vaccine became publicly available, Piskor said the city went from masks, social distancing, and regular testing to “vaccination or nothing.”
When the city adopted its administrative policy requiring vaccinations for all employees, Piskor recalled that some workers tried to avoid it. One person submitted a phony proof-of-vaccination card. Another employee sold his house and moved to Tennessee.
Piskor submitted a religious exemption letter to the HR department. When his request was denied, he requested a vacation, contacted PERS, ordered his affairs, and retired from the city just shy of 25 years.
A fellow unvaccinated employee who filed Piskor’s retirement paperwork wrote on a sticky note: “Lucky bastard.” (The same female employee was later fired for noncompliance with the vaccine mandate. According to Piskor, the city had initially approved her request but later reversed its decision and denied it.)
Out of the four employees who left the water district due to the mandate, three were fired.
Piskor said the weeks leading up to his last day, Oct. 8, 2021, were uncomfortable and demoralizing. As an unvaccinated worker, Piskor said he was labeled a “disgruntled employee,” treated differently than vaccinated co-workers, and constantly pressured to get the shot.
“If you didn’t get the vaccination, you were not welcome there,” Piskor said. “The way they’re trying to push this on people, it’s not right. (Unvaccinated employees) were treated like lepers and criminals because we didn’t want to get something put in us that we didn’t believe in.”
Piskor also criticized how the city handled COVID-19 testing on Wednesdays, allowing potentially exposed employees to work onsite for two days before taking a weekly test.
Looking back, Piskor said he was glad he retired instead of compromising his religious and personal beliefs, but others opposed to the vaccine weren’t given that option.
“Most people said they weren’t going to fight it,” Piskor said. “Young guys with families working in fleet maintenance weren’t going anywhere. I feel bad for those guys who didn’t want the vaccine but had no choice but to support their families.”
