Where plaintiffs were terminated for refusing to be vaccinated, the plaintiffs’ claim of assault must be dismissed because they have failed to identify any “objectively menacing” conduct by the defendants and because the threatened psychological or emotional harm of termination is legally insufficient to constitute an assault.

“In 2021, defendant Beth Israel Lahey Health, Inc., and several of its affiliated health care facilities (collectively ‘the defendants’) implemented a mandatory vaccination policy for employees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The plaintiffs are all former employees who refused to be vaccinated, ostensibly on religious grounds, and were thereafter terminated. …

“Count I alleges common law assault. …

“The defendants contend that Count I fails to state a viable claim for assault because, broadly speaking, the complaint fails to allege facts showing the defendants acted intentionally to harm the plaintiffs, or that the plaintiffs actually had a fear of being harmed. The court essentially agrees. Beyond asserting conclusorily that the defendants’ actions constituted a threat of bodily harm, the complaint fails to identify any ‘objectively menacing’ conduct the defendants engaged in and fails moreover to allege facts showing that the defendants acted to put the plaintiffs in fear of imminent physical harm, or that the plaintiffs were indeed in fear of such harm. Implicitly recognizing as much, the plaintiffs in their opposition identify the...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiUGh0dHBzOi8vbWFzc2xhd3llcnN3ZWVrbHku...