SPOKANE, Wash – Washington State University had the right to fire a WSU football coach who refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a federal judge who ruled on the case Monday.
WSU fired Nick Rolovich in October 2021. He sued the university and the state, saying he should have been allowed to skip the vaccine for religious reasons.
Each side asked a judge to rule in the case and gave arguments last month.
Monday, Judge Thomas Rice in Spokane issued his ruling, granting WSU’s request for summary judgment. That can happen in place of a trial.
In his decision, Judge Rice said the record “does not support [Rolovich’s] claim of religious exemption to the vaccination.”
Judge Rice said in thousands of pages of evidence, there were examples of Rolovich expressing secular concerns about the vaccine, not religious ones.
“[WSU] has shown that [Rolovich’s] job as head football coach undisputedly required frequent interactions with students, coworkers, donors, the media, and others (hundreds of people),” Rice wrote. “This created an undue hardship for [WSU] and no other possible accommodation would have negated that risk. The overwhelming evidence shows that [Rolovich’s] refusal to vaccinate would cause undue hardship to [WSU].”
Rolovich was recently hired by Cal to serve as a senior offensive assistant.
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