Michigan State fires employee after she joins COVID-19 vaccine mandate lawsuit

Michigan State University fired an employee hours after she joined an ongoing legal challenge to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, her lawyers said.

D'Ann Rohrer had been an extension educator at MSU for six years and was already on unpaid leave for refusing to get vaccinated, the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) said Tuesday.

Another employee resisting vaccination, video producer Kraig Ehm, was also undergoing disciplinary proceedings and was fired two days before joining the lawsuit. He had been with MSU for 21 years. 

NCLA filed an amended complaint with the two new plaintiffs Friday, arguing their natural immunity from COVID recovery should be recognized as an exemption. 

Rohrer's termination letter, provided to Just the News, is dated Friday but the effective date is Nov. 9. Litigation counsel Jenin Younes said Rohrer received it "later in the day," after the amended complaint was filed, and she opted not to appeal the decision as offered.

Ehm's termination notice, which was effective Nov. 3, is more detailed. It says he received "multiple notifications from MSU regarding noncompliance implications" and mentions investigatory meetings Oct. 14 and Nov. 3.

MSU has not fired the original plaintiff, Jeanna Norris, and NCLA spokesperson Judy Pino told Just the News the group doesn't know why. Unlike the other two employees, she has been working remotely since March 2020 and "MSU currently has no timetable for her to return to work in person," the suit says.

Like Norris, "they pose no threat to the MSU community in light of their naturally acquired immunity," Younes said in a written statement. "Yet, MSU has chosen to pursue a vindictive path, unsupportable by any science."