Houston Hospital Faces Lawsuit for Requiring COVID-19 Vaccine

HOUSTON,TX- Houston Methodist Hospital is being sued by 117 employees after they say the hospital is forcing them to take the COVID-19 vaccine to stay employed.

Jared Woodfill, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, claimed the hospital is turning their employees into “human guinea pigs” and “for the first time in the history of the United States, an employer is forcing an employee to participate in an experimental vaccine trial”.

One nurse said, “We’re not saying we’ll never get it, we just want more time. We want more research. We want it FDA approved, thoroughly, before we actually put it in our body.”

117 employees have joined the lawsuit.

Houston Methodist Hospital has given employees until June 7th to get the vaccine.

According to legal analyst, Steve Shellist, they may not have a lot of options.

“The hospital has a right to say, 'If you're going to be in close contact with patients and other medical providers, you need to get a vaccine, and if you can't, you are not going to work here,'" Shellist said.

Dr. Marc Boon, president and CEO of Houston Methodist, has said he stands by the hospital and that they have an obligation to make patients feel safe.