Category: News

JW Howard Attorneys in Variety Magazine

JW Howard Attorneys, representing Ingo Rademacher, files suit against ABC over new COVID-19 vaccine policies.

Excerpts of the Variety magazine article is featured below:

Ingo Rademacher Sues ABC Over ‘General Hospital’ Vaccine Mandate

By Gene Maddaus

“General Hospital” star Ingo Rademacher sued ABC on Monday, arguing that the company’s COVID vaccine mandate is unconstitutional and amounts to religious discrimination.
Rademacher, who played Jasper “Jax” Jacks on the soap for nearly 25 years, was red last month after refusing to get vaccinated. According to his lawsuit, Rademacher sought a religious exemption from the mandate, which ABC rejected.

Rademacher is represented by John W. Howard, an attorney who has led several lawsuits challenging vaccine mandates, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

“I am entitled to a religious exemption against mandatory vaccination for COVID-19 on the basis of my deeply and sincerely held moral belief that my body is endowed by my creator with natural processes to protect me and that its natural integrity cannot ethically be violated by the administration of artificially created copies of genetic material, foreign to nature and experimental,” Rademacher wrote in an Oct. 11 email to Disney’s HR department.

Rademacher then had an interview with an HR lawyer, which, according to the suit, “was more akin to cross-examination.” The suit argues that ABC was required to honor Rademacher’s religious exemption, and that questioning the sincerity of his beliefs amounts to religious discrimination.
Steve Burton, another “General Hospital” star, confirmed on Nov. 23 that he, too, had been red from the show for refusing to comply with the vaccine mandate. Burton revealed on Instagram that he had applied for religious and medical exemptions, but that ABC had denied them.

Rademacher’s suit also claims that the vaccine mandate violated his right to privacy.

“This should not be a political issue,” the suit states. “There is no need for everybody to get the COVID-19 shot, even if the president demands it.”

San Diego First Responders – Vaccine Mandate

Fox News recent article on the lawsuits over vaccine mandate policies in San Diego.

The Fox 5 News article is featured below:

JW Howard Attorneys in People magazine

People magazine recently interviewed Scott Street of JW Howard Attorneys on the lawsuits over new COVID-19 vaccine policies.

The People magazine article is featured below:


Ingo Rademacher separated from General Hospital in November because he declined tocomply with the production’s vaccine mandate
By Katie Campione
December 13, 2021 08:07 PM
Former General Hospital

After separating from the show in November for refusing to comply with the production’s mandate, Rademacher called it “blatantly unlawful” in court documents filed in Los Angeles on Monday and obtained by PEOPLE.
“ABC does not have the authority to force a medical treatment to its employees against their will,” the lawsuit states. “These actions constitute religious discrimination and violate Mr. Rademacher’s rights under state and federal law.”
According to the documents, Rademacher sent an email to Disney’s HR department in October that argued he was “entitled to a religious exemption against mandatory vaccination for COVID-19 on the basis of my deeply and sincerely held moral belief that my body is endowed by my creator with natural processes to protect me and that its natural integrity cannot ethically be violated by the administration of artificially created copies of genetic material, foreign to nature and experimental.”
The suit says he was then asked to participate in an interview with an HR lawyer about his religious exemption, which he likened to a “cross-examination.” Following the interview, his request was denied and his contract was terminated, the documents state.
A spokesperson for ABC was not immediately available to comment on the matter.
RELATED:
Ingo Rademacher Out at General Hospital, Addresses Costars Calling Him Out for Transphobic Post
In a statement to PEOPLE, Rademacher’s lawyer, Scott Street of JW Howard Attorneys, says, “This case is about freedom, including freedom of religion and the right to privacy that all Californians have under our state constitution. Cases decided a hundred years ago don’t change that. The world has evolved since then. The law has evolved since then. We look forward to litigating those issues in court.”
Rademacher played Jasper “Jax” Jacks on and off for 25 years. He addressed his exit from the showin a video posted to Instagram last week.
“I was on the show for 25 years. They’re like my family, a lot of the people there and Iwas really hoping that I could play Jax for another 10 or 25 years,” he said, adding that his exit from the show “is still something that I’m trying to process.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Addressing the vaccine mandate, he continued: “I think it should be a choice. If you want to go get the vaccine, get the vaccine. If you think it’s going to protect you, that’s great. But you should be able to make that choice. I think we all need to fight this because I don’t agree with vaccine mandates. Obviously, you already know that I do not agree with corporations ever, ever being able to mandate a vaccine to keep your job, to keep your livelihood…that’s coercion, and that is not freedom of choice at all. So, I’m really frustrated with what’s going on in this world right now.”
Rademacher isn’t the only actor to exit General Hospital over the mandate. In late November, Steve Burton was also let go from the daytime soap opera for refusing to comply.
RELATED:
Steve Burton Out at General Hospital
After Refusing to Comply with COVID Vaccine Mandate
General Hospital’s vaccine mandate for Zone A, which includes the actors and all crew who are present on set when the actors aren’t wearing masks, went into effecton Nov. 1. Last month, star Nancy Lee Grahn expressed her excitement at the news.
“I am very proud to work on the ONLY Daytime Soap that has required that all performers, staff and crew be vaccinated,” the actress wrote on Twitter.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that everyone aged 5years and older in the U.S. get vaccinated against COVID-19.
A study released by the organization earlier this year found that among people who are fully vaccinated, the risk of COVID-19 infection was
reduced by 91 percent. Additionally, the risk of infection among those who were partially vaccinated was 81percent lower.

John W. Howard files lawsuit against Biden’s vaccine mandate

ABC News recently interviewed John W. Howard on the lawsuits over new Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine policies.

The ABC News article is featured below:

John W. Howard files suit for ABC ‘General Hospital’ star

Fox News recently reported that John W. Howard filed a lawsuit over new COVID-19 vaccine policies for Ingo Rademacher.

‘General Hospital’ star Rademacher on COVID suit against ABC:

Without choice, ‘the government owns your’ body Rademacher exited ‘General Hospital’ amid a Disney-ABC vaccine mandate

By Charles Creitz | Fox News

After exiting “General Hospital” following almost two decades on the program, actor Ingo Rademacher joined “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox Nation to discuss his new lawsuit against Disney subsidiary ABC over its coronavirus vaccine mandate.
Rademacher, who was denied a religious exemption, told host Tucker Carlson that submitting to the injection would go against many of his beliefs, including religion.

The actor, 50, spoke of his elderly parents who still live in his home country of Germany, where he said they hike every day in the Alps and are on zero pharmaceutical medications at their advanced age, due in part to their longstanding use of homeopathic and other remedies for illnesses.
The injections from Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson go against that life tradition, while the mandate effectively cancels out a human being’s individual body sovereignty, he said.

“To me, it’s staying healthy and dying healthy as well,” Rademacher said. “Being injected with something like this COVID vaccine – personally, I don’t think I need it, and I think I should be able to make that choice.” He said that by submitting to the Walt Disney Company’s demands, which in turn are strongly supported by the federal government, he is giving away his body to officials in Washington, D.C. “If we don’t choose what to put in our bodies, we don’t own our body. The government owns you,” he said. “It’s so frustrating.”

Documents were filed by attorney John W. Howard on behalf of the actor on Monday, stating that Rademacher applied for a religious exemption to the mandate but was denied. He is also being represented by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. – the son of the late U.S. attorney general.
“I am entitled to a religious exemption against mandatory vaccination for COVID-19 on the basis of my deeply and sincerely held moral belief that my body is endowed by my creator with natural processes to protect me and that its natural integrity cannot ethically be violated by the administration of artificially created copies of genetic material, foreign to nature and experimental,” the actor wrote in an email to Disney’s human resources
team in October, per the suit.

Rademacher told Carlson he originally predicted a mandate would come down the pike after the Walt Disney Company began requiring workers at its amusement parks in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., to comply with such orders.

Earlier this fall, President Biden issued an executive vaccine mandate for most businesses and employees, but it has thus far been largely stymied or nullified by court decisions.
As ABC continues to go ahead with its mandate of the vaccine, other large organizations have paused or canceled their implementations – including the semi-federal entity of Amtrak, itself a 50-year cause celebre of Biden, for whom the Wilmington station is named.

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, as it is formally called, temporarily suspended its mandate, which officials at the railway initially told Congress would cause service disruptions and cuts beginning in early January 2022.

ABC interviews John W. Howard on COVID vaccine lawsuits

ABC News recently interviewed John W. Howard on the lawsuits over new COVID-19 vaccine policies.

The ABC News article is featured below:

Principles
Principle, not politics
San Diego Union-Tribune November 16, 2004 by Phillip J. LaVelle

Who is John Howard, and why does he want San Diego’s mayoral election nullified?

To supporters of Donna Frye, whose write-in candidacy has put her a hairbreadth away from becoming mayor, Howard is probably a front for various anti-Frye forces:

For Ron Roberts, who seemed poised to oust Mayor Dick Murphy before Frye came along. For backers of the strong-mayor ballot proposition, who won but never envisioned Frye as mayor. For pro-sports team owners, perhaps. For Republicans, certainly.

Despite ties to some of the above, Howard says he is acting on his own, motivated solely by his firm belief that the city charter prohibits write-in candidacies in general elections.
“Principle matters,” he said.

“The Constitution of the United States and the charter of San Diego matter. They’re the documents from which we derive all the benefits of where we live, and if we don’t keep them inviolate, then we expose ourselves to deep, deep trouble.”
Critics, of course, would be less suspicious had he taken legal action before the election, before Frye’s unexpected surge. Frye calls his lawsuit “sour grapes.”
Read more…

Who's Who Lifetime Acheivement Award
Lifetime Achievement Award
John Howard Presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who’s Who

Who's Who Award
Mr. Howard has been endorsed by Marquis Who’s Who as a leader in the field of corporate, business and constitutional litigation

SAN DIEGO, CA, August 18, 2020, Marquis Who’s Who, the world’s premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present John Wayne Howard with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Mr. Howard celebrates many years’ experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who’s Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

Mr. Howard, of JW Howard Attorneys Ltd. in San Diego, first entered private practice in 1979. Hailing from an extensive background in corporate transactional and litigation expertise, he has successfully handled some of the most complex business disputes for clients engaging in numerous jury trials through verdict. Utilizing a wealth of personal experience, including extensive knowledge as a former inside and outside counsel for many significant corporations in the past, Mr. Howard and his team of talented corporate litigators boast an unparalleled record for winning. Additionally, they are known for drastically reducing the risk of claims and litigation.
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Just When You Thought You Were Safe

Hiring can be a grueling business, especially when you are looking for higher level or more skilled employees.  You review resumes.  You call references.  You Google applicants.  You conduct endless interviews.

Finally, you find just the right person.  Time to relax.  In the interests of space, throw away the resumes of those you didn’t hire. Get rid of your interview notes.  What do you need them for?

Wrong answer.

Just when you thought plaintiff’s lawyers could not come up with any more creative ways to lighten your wallet, along comes a particularly imaginative one who claims that you discriminated against one of the applicants you did not hire and he wants money.  Have to make a buck somehow. If the job doesn’t work out, sue the company that didn’t hire you.  Nice work if you can get it.
Read More…

The Best Defense

A company’s best defense against employee claims is a statement of firm and clearly articulated standards and rules.  Most businesspeople know that a good part of customer relations is the management of expectations.  The same is true of employee relations.  That is why it is critical that companies prepare, distribute and regularly update employee handbooks.  They are your best defense against employee claims.

Employee Handbook

California is an “at will” employment state which means that companies can terminate an employee’s employment for no reason.  Why, then, do we read of wrongful terminations lawsuits that end up in large judgments?  They arise, generally, because the company has not managed the employee’s expectations and has not taken the time emphasize the employee’s at will status. Such lawsuits can be maintained if the company has, by word and deed, led the employee to believe his employment is permanent and that he could rely on having a continuing, and long, career with the company.  (They can also arise when the employee is the beneficiary of an employment contract, but such contracts are typically extended only to top executives, so we need not address them here.)

Employee handbooks have been found by courts to be contracts between employer and employee and, as such, should spell out all of the terms of employment, such as vacation schedules and accruals, employee duties and rights, employee use of company equipment, hours, benefits and a host of rules that set forth the expectations on both sides.  It should specifically state that it is a contract and emphasize that employment is “at will”. The existence of a handbook will be very important if your company is ever the target of a claim by an employee.
Read More…

AV Preeminent Award

Judicial Review

Client Champion Award

Client Champion 2020