The Leon County Commission has okayed a settlement agreement in a lawsuit over the county’s vaccine mandate.
Under the agreement the country won’t have to pay the millions of dollars in fines it was facing after Gov. Ron DeSantis and the health department said the county violated state law by requiring its employees to get fully vaccinated against the coronavirus or lose their jobs.
County Attorney Chasity O’Steen said the terms of the settlement agreement require the county to give the 14 employees who were fired under the mandate “equal consideration” for any future positions.
“They will be considered like any other candidate for employment and their vaccination status would be taken under consideration, which again we are required to do now under the new law, and that the fact that they did not comply with the policy would not be taken into consideration either," O'Steen said.
Under the settlement agreement, the county must also verify in writing that it has rescinded its vaccination policy. O’Steen says the country has already removed its vaccine mandate, since that was a requirement under a new law passed during the recent special session.
O'Steen said the county won't be required to pay a monetary penalty or fine.
