Harsman v. Cincinnati Children's Hopital Medical Center

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedSeptember 30, 2021
Docket1:21-cv-00597
StatusUnknown

This text of Harsman v. Cincinnati Children's Hopital Medical Center (Harsman v. Cincinnati Children's Hopital Medical Center) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harsman v. Cincinnati Children's Hopital Medical Center, (S.D. Ohio 2021).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO WESTERN DIVISION

KIMBERLY HARSMAN, et al., : Case No. 1:21-cv-597 : Plaintiffs, : Judge Timothy S. Black : vs. : : CINCINNATI CHILDREN’S : HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER, et al., : : Defendants. :

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER This civil case is before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and/or Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 14), and Defendants’1 responsive memoranda (Docs. 34, 35, 37, and 39). Plaintiffs seek an emergency order restraining Defendants from requiring Plaintiffs to be vaccinated for COVID-19 prior to October 1, 2021,2 and from taking any adverse employment action against Plaintiffs for failing to be vaccinated or refusing to disclose their vaccination status.

1 Defendants are five Cincinnati area hospital systems comprising Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (“CCHMC”); The Christ Hospital and The Christ Hospital Physicians, LLC (“TCHHN”); TriHealth, Inc., TriHealth G, LLC, d/b/a TriHealth Physician Partners and Group Health Physician Partners, Bethesda Hospital, Inc., Bethesda North and Good Samaritan Hospital (“TriHealth”); UC Health, LLC, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, LLC and University of Cincinnati Physicians Company, LLC (“UC”); and Mercy Health Cincinnati, LLC, Mercy Health – Anderson Hospital LLC, Mercy Health – West Hospital LLC, Mercy Health Physicians Cincinnati LLC and The Jewish Hospital, LLC, d/b/a The Jewish Hospital – Mercy Health (“Mercy”) (collectively, “Defendants”). 2 October 1, 2021, which applies to the TCHHN and UC Defendants, is the earliest vaccination deadline. The other Defendants have moved back their deadlines. TriHealth Defendants will require vaccination by October 31, CCHMC by November 1, and Mercy by December 1, 2021. I. BACKGROUND The factual background, though stated in a remarkable 570-paragraph complaint,

is straightforward in this case. (Doc. 13). On August 5, 2021, Defendants, five of the major healthcare systems in the Cincinnati area, announced vaccine mandates for all of their employees to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The specific details of each Defendant’s mandate vary, but the general thrust is that all of Defendants’ employees would be required get a COVID-19 vaccine or else qualify for a medical or religious exemption. (Id. at 9, ¶ 1). Plaintiffs, who are presumably healthcare workers for the

major healthcare systems, oppose the vaccine mandate. (See generally, id.).3 The procedural background is more tortuous. On August 23, 2021, Plaintiffs’ counsel filed separate class action complaints against all five of the Defendants here,4 and one against Kentucky-based healthcare system St. Elizabeth Medical Center and Summit Medical Group, d/b/a St. Elizabeth Physicians (“St. Elizabeth’s”).5 On August 25, 2021,

Plaintiffs also filed a complaint in this Court alleging federal antitrust claims against

3 Plaintiffs do not actually allege that they are employees of the Defendants in their complaint or, indeed, any facts about themselves. Nor is the class definition limited to employees of the Defendants. (Doc. 13 at ¶ 6). 4 Aldridge v. Mercy Health Cincinnati, LLC, Case No. A2102965 (Hamilton Cnty. C.P.); Alexander v. Cincinnati Children’s Hosp. Med. Ctr., Case No. 1:21-cv-00545 (S.D. Ohio) (removed from Hamilton Cnty. C.P.); Allen v. TriHealth, Inc., Case No. A2102964 (Hamilton Cnty. C.P.); Durrough v. Christ Hosp., Case No. 1:21-cv-00549 (S.D. Ohio) (removed from Hamilton Cnty. C.P.); and Beier v. UC Health, LLC, Case No. 1:21-cv-00551 (S.D. Ohio) (removed from Hamilton Cnty. C.P.). 5 Beckerich v. St. Elizabeth Med. Ctr., Inc., Case No. 2:21-cv-00100 (E.D. Ky.) (removed from Boone Cnty. Cir. Ct.). Defendants and St. Elizabeth’s.6 Over the next few days, UC, TriHealth, and CCHMC each removed their cases to federal court. The case against the Mercy Defendants

remained in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, where, on August 27, 2021, Judge Jennifer Branch denied a request for a temporary restraining order.7 Two days later, Plaintiffs’ counsel voluntarily dismissed all of the complaints they had filed in all three courts—state court, this Court, and the federal court in Northern Kentucky. Plaintiffs’ counsel reappeared on September 3, 2021. They again filed a complaint against St. Elizabeth’s in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.8

And in this Court, they filed another class action complaint against all of the present Defendants and St. Elizabeth’s (but only alleged federal antitrust claims against St. Elizabeth’s).9 On September 10, 2021, this Court conferred with defense counsel and Plaintiffs’ counsel in a Rule 65 teleconference. Later that day, Plaintiffs’ counsel voluntarily dismissed their case in this Court a second time. The case against St.

Elizabeth’s in Kentucky carried on, however. On September 24, 2021, in a thoughtful and well-reasoned Order, Judge Bunning denied injunctive relief to the Plaintiffs. Beckerich v. St. Elizabeth Med. Ctr., No. CIV 21-105-DLB-EBA, 2021 WL 4398027 (E.D. Ky. Sept. 24, 2021).

6 Beckerich v. St. Elizabeth Med. Ctr., Inc., Case No. 1:21-cv-00548 (S.D. Ohio). 7 Aldridge, No. A2102965, Entry Denying Pls.’ Mot. Temp. Restraining Order, Aug. 27, 2021. 8 Beckerich v. St. Elizabeth Med. Ctr., Inc., No. 2:21-cv-00195 (E.D. Ky.). 9 Beckerich v. St. Elizabeth Med. Ctr., Inc., No. 1:21-cv-00576 (S.D. Ohio). Finally, on September 14, 2021, Plaintiffs filed the complaint in this this case. Plaintiffs originally sued in Hamilton County, but Defendants removed on September 17,

2021. (Doc. 1). Though Plaintiffs challenged removal in a motion for remand (Doc. 21), they abandoned that motion on the day their reply brief was due. (Doc. 42). Now, after keeping Defendants and this Court in limbo for nearly a month, Plaintiffs and their counsel are back where they started. Just as before, Plaintiffs ask the Court to issue a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction. (Doc. 14). Plaintiffs foresee that they will face adverse

employment action if they refuse to comply with Defendants’ mandates. (Id.) They ask the Court to enjoin Defendants from requiring Plaintiffs to be vaccinated by Defendants’ deadline, and from taking any adverse employment actions against Plaintiffs for their non-compliance. (Id.). For the reasons below, and those well-stated in Judge Bunning’s Order, the Court DENIES Plaintiffs’ request.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65 empowers district courts to issue temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions “to preserve the status quo so that a reasoned resolution of a dispute may be had.” Procter & Gamble Co. v. Bankers Trust Co., 78 F.3d 219, 227 (6th Cir. 1996). The standards for obtaining a temporary restraining order

or a preliminary injunction are the same. Workman v. Bredesen, 486 F.3d 896 (6th Cir. 2007). Courts consider four factors: “(1) whether the movant has a strong likelihood of success on the merits; (2) whether the movant would suffer irreparable injury without the injunction; (3) whether issuance of the injunction would cause substantial harm to others; and (4) whether the public interest would be served by issuance of the injunction.” City of Pontiac Retired Emps. Ass’n v. Schimmel, 751 F.3d 427, 430 (6th Cir. 2014) (per

curiam) (en banc).

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Harsman v. Cincinnati Children's Hopital Medical Center, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harsman-v-cincinnati-childrens-hopital-medical-center-ohsd-2021.