​Former Worker Sues LA County Over COVID Vaccine, Disclosure Policies

LOS ANGELES — A former Los Angeles County environmental health specialist who objected to getting a coronavirus vaccination and to disclosing her health information is suing over her 2022 firing.

Erika Aleman's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges wrongful termination and constitutional rights violations. She seeks reinstatement to her job of 14 years with back pay along with unspecified compensatory damages.

A county representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Wednesday.

Aleman received notice from county management in October 2021 that she had to get a COVID-19 shot as a condition of continued employment and she also was told to register her medical information with Fulgent Genetics, the suit states.

Aleman believes that the Fulgent app gathers genetic and medical data and cross-references and links the information to individuals' assets, property, residence, credit and financial data and shares the specifics with other companies, the suit states.

Aleman did not get vaccinated and used what she believed to be her rightful option to not provide Fulgent with her personal information, citing the Genetic Information Privacy Act, according to her suit.

The county suspended Aleman for a total of 10 days for her decisions and management told her she would be fired for her decisions regarding the coronavirus shot and the non-disclosure of her health data, according to her suit.

The county tried to schedule a due-process hearing in for Aleman in December 2021, but she had to take a leave of absence for health reasons that management approved, the suit states.

Aleman's medical leave began in late December 2021 and the county eventually extended it to April 2022, telling her that her hearing would take place when she returned, according to the suit.Instead, management fired her without providing the due-process proceeding, the suit alleges.

Before October 2021, the county -- even during a pandemic -- never required that employees get a shot to keep their jobs and also at no time fired a worker for declining a vaccine or any medical treatment, according to Aleman's suit.

Although county management said the vaccine policy that it used to fire Aleman was necessary to protect others, some workers were allowed to work in 2021-22 while testing and wearing masks, and by April 2022, there was little immunological difference between people who were vaccinated and those who were not, the suit states.

"There was certainly not enough of a difference to justify firing unvaccinated employees like Ms. Aleman, who could otherwise perform the essential functions of her job," the suit states.

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