13 former Allegheny County employees sue over coronavirus vaccine mandate

Thirteen former Allegheny County employees are suing the county after it denied their requests for religious and medical exemptions to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

In a federal lawsuit, the employees allege the county breached an employment contract and violated the First and Fourteenth amendments when it terminated unvaccinated employees after a Dec. 1, 2021, deadline to receive the vaccination.

“Allegheny County leadership’s behavior, action and unconscionable process … did cause public humiliation and degradation to (the former employees), who were hailed as heroes and frontline essential workers before the unlawful and constitutionally defective mandates,” part of the lawsuit reads.

The former employees represent a range of county departments, including parks, public works, court records, area on aging, human resources, the health department and Kane Regional Center.

They said in the lawsuit that the county ignored their religious beliefs, medical history and natural immunization when it denied exemption. Numerous plaintiffs claim they included written documents from pastors and physicians when seeking exemption — to no avail.

Shane Chesher, who worked for the county parks department for 11 years, said he applied for a religious exemption based on the use of fetal cells in the available vaccines.

“I believe God gives us certain sovereignty and domain over our body and temple,” Chesher said.

All of the employees who were fired received a similar form letter denying their exemption requests for “undue hardship,” Chesher said.

He doesn’t agree with that finding, noting that throughout the early stages of the pandemic, all of the same employees were deemed essential workers.

“If I could work without it then, why can’t I work without it now?” Chesher asked.

Chesher, 35, of Natrona Heights, served as the foreman for maintenance at Harrison Hills Park. He said he took a lot of pride in his work, especially since he lived in the community.

“I never wanted it to come to this,” he said.

The plaintiffs, who are representing themselves in court, seek compensatory damages and the creation of county policies that “protect employees.” The complaint was filed on Dec. 16. They reached out to a few attorneys to represent them in their complaint, Chesher said, but they all wanted money up front, which the fired employees didn’t have.

Chesher is now working as a laborer on a construction project, he said, and received a religious exemption allowing him to forego vaccination for covid.

The other plaintiffs include: Joanne M. King, Andrew Nosbisch, Julia L. Wilner, Thomas Koerbel, Carol Walsh, Dallas Chrestler, Debra Spirko, Jeffrey Simonetti, Karen M. Depkon, Tracy MacAllister, Stacy Poole and Candis Sines-Westerberg.

The lawsuit names the following defendants: Allegheny County, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Manager Willy McKain, Senior Deputy Manager Stephen Pilarski, Health Department Chief Operating Officer Patrick Dowd, Director of Human Resources Laura Zaspel, Deputy Director of Human Resources Jamie Regan, Health Department Human Resources Manager Christopher Cavendish, Employee Relations Manager Nichole Nagle and Employee Relations Coordinator Ellen Buannic.

The lawsuit also alleges that before the mandate, the county disclosed private religious and medical decisions by requiring unvaccinated employees to publicly test for the virus and wear face coverings.

More than 90% of Allegheny County’s 5,000 executive-branch employees showed proof of getting vaccinated against covid-19 by Dec. 1, 2021.

In November, a former Allegheny County Police officer also sued the county after it denied his request for a religious exemption to the vaccine.