ABC has triumphed against a lawsuit from actor Ingo Rademacher over his dismissal from General Hospital for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
What’s Happening:
- Rademacher, who played Jasper “Jax” Jacks on General Hospital for nearly 25 years, was fired in November 2021 after refusing to get vaccinated.
- According to his lawsuit, ABC rejected Rademacher when he sought a religious exemption from the vaccine mandate.
- ABC argued in their motion for summary judgment that parent company Disney thoroughly vetted requests for exemptions on a case-by-case basis.
- “Rademacher’s testimony confirms his ‘religion’ is not comprehensive in nature, but focused instead on the issue of not altering one’s/his immune system and ‘do[ing] the right thing’ or simply being a ‘good person,'” wrote ABC’s lawyer Steven Marenberg in the network’s opposition to the actor’s motion for summary adjudication.
- In an order granting summary judgment, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephen Goorvitch sided with ABC, which said that Rademacher’s opposition to the vaccine was grounded in health reasons rather than his religious beliefs.
- Goorvitch had taken dueling motions under submission after an April 5th hearing and on Monday issued a brief order granting Disney’s and denying Rademachers’, but has not yet issued a detailed ruling.
- A federal judge previously dismissed some claims from fellow General Hospital actor Rockmond Dunbar, who was also let go from the show due to refusing the vaccine mandate.
- The Walt Disney Company still faces several other claims.