An assistant attorney general for the state of Washington in a filing Monday asked a federal court to dismiss Gov. Jay Inslee (D) from litigation filed last month by an individual angered by COVID-19 policies implemented by both the state and federal government.
Joseph B. Jensen, Sr., who reportedly works at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington under the Civil Rights Act, against Inslee, President Joe Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, plus other government entities.
Jensen filed suit last month, without an attorney, saying that as a federal subcontractor he is subject to a vaccine mandate he alleges is unlawful.
The Tri-City Herald, which first reported the lawsuit, identified Jensen as a worker at Hanford. DOE sources did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation, although an Internet search did turn up one or more people with similar names employed at Hanford either now or in the past. The 26-page complaint was initially filed by Jensen on Aug. 23, before President Biden issued a Sept. 9 executive order saying federal workers and contractors would soon be mandated to be vaccinated against COVID-19. But the suit came after an earlier Biden directive saying that federal workers and contractors who did not get the vaccine would be subject to regular tests for COVID-19.
Jensen said he has a Constitutional right “to be free from searches at all times.” The plaintiff said COVID testing amounts to “an invasive body search in which a biological sample is taken from the person.” Jensen also called such tests a “punitive” measure against those who decline vaccination, which violates a person’s “bodily autonomy” and “bodily integrity.”
In Monday’s brief, an assistant attorney general for Washington state said the case against Inslee should be dismissed on various grounds. As a governor, Inslee has limited immunity while acting in his official role, and the plaintiff has not yet exhausted potential administrative remedies, the state attorney said.
“The challenged Proclamations have a real and substantial relation to the COVID-19 public health crisis and are not a plain, palpable invasion of Plaintiffs’ rights,” according to the state attorney. The state has taken various actions, including indoor mask mandates for employers that could be waived only after employees show they have been vaccinated.
The federal government has yet to file a formal reply to the lawsuit. Jensen is requesting a jury trial. The case appears to be among the very first brought about COVID-19 policy on the DOE weapons complex.
