Louisiana’s largest health system has been forced by a state appeals court ruling that it must refrain from firing or disciplining employees who refuse a COVID-19 vaccine mandate while the legality of the decision is being challenged. The ruling by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal in Shreveport came on Thursday ahead of the healthcare provider’s Friday deadline. The group of 20 employees involved in the lawsuit would have otherwise been released following the vaccine mandate going into effect. The mandate applied to Ochsner Health’s 32,000 employees unless a worker received an approved exemption. “To get a temporary restraining order, you must convince the court when you file something that you have a substantial likelihood of success,” attorneys Jimmy Faircloth told nola.com, a New Orleans newspaper website. “This very important issue is a resounding wake-up call to all the employers in the state that have been hoodwinked into believing that …