College accused of plotting against Christian coach over vaccine exemption
“This is really shocking stuff that should never happen in this country.”
A one-time high-level college football coach is seeking legal recourse Washington State University over claims administrators carefully plotted to oust him over his religious objection to the COVID-19 vaccine.
After his original lawsuit was shot down by a federal district court in January, Nick Rolovich is seeking an appeal.
Rolovich, who coached the Cougars for almost two seasons, sought a religious exemption from the vaccine before Washington state mandated it – legislation which he says Washington State administrators were involved in crafting for the sake of ousting him.
In 2021, in the face of university fears that there would be donor and public backlash if he was granted an exemption, Rolovich went to great lengths to prove the sincerity of his claim, and it was granted.
“It’s no surprise [he was given an exemption], because he submitted a detailed explanation of his religious beliefs, the theological basis for it … he cited Catholic catechism teaching documents … and he noted that his priest and then his bishop had both supported him,” his attorney Joe Davis of Becket explained. “The review committee said, ‘Yes, he’s sincere.'”
It was at this time that Washington Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, issued a mandate requiring that all state employees, educational employees, and healthcare workers be vaccinated.
Faithwire reports:
According to court documents filed by Rolovich and his lawyers, WSU executives — as part of their alleged “Rolo strategy” — “worked closely” with Inslee on crafting the mandate, which was allegedly part of a larger “‘game plan in dealing with Rolovich’ that would allow it to compel him to be vaccinated.”
All of this, Davis said, stemmed from the media and donors who were “really upset” about Rolovich potentially being exempted from the COVID shots, so the university “yielded to that pressure.”
“Internally,” the attorney said, “[the university was] quite clear with Coach Rolovich, [telling him], ‘It’s because of the pressure from the donors, it’s because of the pressure from the media.’ They said, ‘We need you to be a leader and take this vaccine, regardless of your religious beliefs.'”
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“It’s quite clear they thought that it tarnished Washington State’s ‘brand’ — that’s their word — to have a devoted Christian that stood by his beliefs and didn’t take the COVID-19 vaccine,” Davis said. “The only thing that tarnished their brand really was their refusal to live up to religious liberty, which is what this country is all about.”
Naturally, the university claims it was merely concerned about the safety of its students, which a federal district judge seemed to find valid in January when the court sided with Washington State.
The Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice agreed the university could not have accommodated Rolovich’s religious accommodation request.
Now, he will seek a different outcome from the Ninth Circuit.