The Santa Barbara Unified School Board narrowly escaped litigation over its vaccine mandate after a demand letter lead the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) to amend its accommodation offer.
The Sept. 23 SBUSD vaccine mandate would have required all staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or face termination until Advocates for Faith and Freedom, a non-profit legal ministry, intervened.
“We have become privy to the possibility that the school board and district may adopt a no-accommodation policy, which is illegal,” wrote UnifySB attorney Robert Tyler in an Oct. 12 letter of demand addressed to SBUSD president Kate Ford.
“This may subject board members and district staff to personal liability for intentionally violating the law. Advocates for Faith and Freedom are monitoring this matter very closely and we will be forced to take legal action to protect the rights of the employees affiliated with Unify SB. If this plan were to occur, lastly, any members of Unify SB that signed the school boards’ religious and/or medical accommodation forms do not forfeit any causes of action that may arise against the school board for violation of federal or state law.”
UnifySB is an unincorporated association made up of some 60 employees of the SBUSD.
“They recognize that telling someone ‘go home, you're not getting paid, and you can't come to work’ is a constructive termination,” Tyler told the Southern California Record. “We were prepping a wrongful termination lawsuit on behalf of many employees. I think they recognized that and tried to recant on their position to some degree by allowing them to keep their jobs.”
Under the amended accommodation, employees of the SBUSD can keep their employment if they agree to engage in the twice-weekly COVID testing, wear an N95 mask while at work, and socially distance whenever practicable.
"There's really no rational basis for the school district to be trying to label the vaccinated versus unvaccinated due to the fact that the science shows there's essentially no difference in transmission," Tyler said. "There's a lot of political motivation behind all that is happening in this case with the Biden administration and Newsom administration putting so much ridiculous pressure on businesses and government agencies to do their dirty work."
Tyler added that the school district has not gone far enough with its amended offer.
“They need to require that everybody is tested once or twice a week and not just those that are unvaccinated,” he said. “All employees should be tested on the same basis. All employees should wear masks and all employees should socially distance themselves. That is what the science dictates.”