Several dozen employees of the Illinois Department of Corrections are suing the state over COVID-19 vaccine or testing mandates.
A lawsuit filed in Christian County Circuit Court requests a temporary restraining order.
The 46 employees work at 18 different correctional facilities run by the state of Illinois.
In one of the filings from attorney Thomas DeVore on behalf of the plaintiffs, the lawsuit contends under Illinois law, “an individual may refuse to receive vaccines, medications or other treatments.”
IDOC was one of the last holdouts of state employees Gov. J.B. Pritzker mandated last fall to be vaccinated as a condition of employment. After reaching an impasse, Pritzker and the union representing more than 10,000 IDOC employees negotiated through interest arbitration. An arbitration panel in December said IDOC employees should be mandated to get the vaccine.
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