Washington Firefighter Who Lost Job Over COVID Vaccine Mandate Takes His Case to the Appeals Court

Scott Carlson, a former lieutenant with the Redmond Fire Department in Washington state, says he helped respond to some of America's first COVID-19 patients and then lost the career he loved after refusing a vaccine mandate on religious grounds. He is now fighting the case in court.

Carlson told Fox News Digital that he and his colleagues spent 18 months on the front lines of the pandemic with zero cross-contaminations, and did their job very well, before the governor's COVID vaccine mandate changed his career.

When Washington implemented vaccination requirements, Carlson sought a religious exemption in 2021. He said he had to prove he was actually religious and that it was not just something he wanted. He alleged that about 10 days later Mayor Angela Birney revoked the exemptions and decided to terminate all of them.

First Liberty Institute, which is representing the eight firefighters, says Carlson initially received a religious exemption before those accommodations were revoked following an executive order from Redmond's mayor.

Carlson filed a lawsuit against the City of Redmond in federal court on December 8, 2022, alleging officials violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to accommodate his religious beliefs and retaliating against him for requesting an exemption. The lawsuit was amended twice to include additional firefighters after they received right-to-sue notices from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In December 2025 a federal district court sided with the City of Redmond, rejecting the firefighters' claims that the city failed to accommodate their religious beliefs and retaliated against them. The firefighters are appealing and are asking the Ninth Circuit to overturn the lower court ruling.

Their attorney, Cliff Martin, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the case involves more than a disagreement over vaccine policy. He alleged the city had positions available that could have accommodated the firefighters but hid those available positions from the plaintiffs and then filled them with vaccinated firefighters, so there was nowhere to transfer the unvaccinated firefighters who had a religious objection.

For Carlson, losing the job went beyond a paycheck. He said firefighting was a calling that let him serve his community during difficult moments, that he is on team Jesus and will follow his faith no matter what, but that losing the way he served was a hard, heart-dividing emotion.

The interview material notes that the allegations that city officials withheld available positions, which are central to the legal challenge, have not been independently established in that material. The appeal is now before the Ninth Circuit.