Vaccine suit against CalState dropped after accommodations

A lawsuit filed by three CalState Chico students against the state university system over its COVID-19 vaccine requirement has been dropped.

The complaint was one of two lawsuits filed against California universities over rules that all students must get the vaccine to attend class. Higley et al. v. California State University et al., 21-CV01126 (E.D. Cal., filed June 24, 2021).

Peter Gibbons, a Nevada attorney who represents the plaintiffs, wrote in an email Tuesday that two of his clients applied for and received exemptions after he filed the complaint. A third plaintiff is able to take classes remotely, he said.

Gibbons noted that a July 23 decision by a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed a district court ruling against public school parents who challenged the state's COVID-19 rules. Under that decision, public schools have no duty to provide in-person education. Brach et al. v. Newsom et al., 2021 DJDAR 7542 (9th Cir., filed Dec 7, 2020).

"While that point may be arguable, it will not be grounds for an injunction, preliminary or otherwise," Gibbons said.

California State University, one of the largest college systems in the nation, does not face currently any lawsuits challenging its COVID-19 vaccination requirement, according to Toni Molle, its director of strategic communications and public affairs. No lawsuits have been reported against the University of California either, while UC Berkeley is scheduled to start classes this week with a COVID-19 vaccination requirement.

Two students at Loyola Marymount University do have a pending federal lawsuit against the private Los Angeles college over its vaccination mandate.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied review earlier this month of students' challenge of Indiana University's COVID-19 vaccination requirement, casting doubt on the chance that courts will get involved -- at least at public universities.

"We are hopeful that the FDA's full approval of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine leads to increased vaccination rates in order to slow the spread of the disease and its highly infectious Delta variant," Molle wrote.