NBA Officials Fired Over Vaccination Status File Lawsuit Against League

John Simmons | November 15, 2022
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Last season, the NBA fired 17 referees because they did not follow its mandate that all league employees had to get vaccinated. Now, three of those officials have filed a lawsuit against the NBA.

Kenny Mauer, Jason Phillips, and Mark Ayotte  - who have 71 years of experience between all of them - have logged a complaint in a Manhattan federal court that seeks front and back pay, punitive damages, and damages for reputational harm, pain, and suffering.

“Had the NBA not taken upon itself to force faith-based conscientious objectors to adhere to secular norms, none of plaintiffs’ complained-of injuries would have manifested,” the complaint reads. “In sum: Plaintiffs were persecuted.”

Mauer, a lifelong Catholic, said in an interview with The Blaze’s Jason Whitlock last year that after conducting personal research about the development of the vaccine, the fact that aborted fetal cells were used to create the vaccine was enough for him to dismiss the idea of getting vaccinated, something the NBA did not put up with.

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“I never thought that my faith in our Lord Jesus Christ would prevent me or stop me or get in the way of me refereeing NBA basketball games. And that’s about it in a nutshell and that’s what’s happened,” Mauer said. “Not to just me, but other people.”

The NBA lifted its vaccine mandate for the current season, but this group of officials have yet to be allowed back in the league.

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