Vaccine Mandate Protestors Gather for Confluence Health Lawsuit Hearing

Dozens of protestors and former Confluence Health employees camped in front of the Douglas County Superior Courthouse in Waterville Thursday, listening in on the hearing for the Confluence Health Lawsuit.

The plaintiffs are 100 current and former Confluence Health employees who are claiming that their employer wrongfully terminated them for not taking the Covid-19 vaccine. 

The plaintiffs are represented by East Wenatchee attorney Steve Lacy. 

May Tussey worked as Confluence Health’s business analyst for six and a half years. Tussey alleges that Confluence had discriminated against her unvaccinated cohorts, and failed to recognize their natural immunity to Covid-19.

“Personally, I think they tried to turn others on the unvaccinated people. We were bullied and belittled, discriminated against. I think unfortunately, that kind of changed the culture at Confluence in a very negative way, and we were not treated well because of our vaccination status.”

Chris Baxter worked as a Confluence Health RN for 12 years. Baxter quit, claiming that Confluence failed to accommodate his religious exemption.

“Because the development of the vaccine involved a fetal line of cells, I'm against abortion, and it goes against my religious beliefs to harm innocent lives for the benefit of anyone and to take life. It goes against my religious beliefs in that way.” Baxter said. “I just didn't feel comfortable taking a vaccine that I knew had direct ties to an aborted fetus.”

He is referencing the fetal cell-lines derived from abortions/miscarriages from the 60’s and 70’s. These cell samples were used for vaccine development for diseases such as hepatitis A, rubella, and rabies, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, aspirin, on top of the Covid-19 vaccine. None of these vaccines or medications have actual fetal cells in them.

Baxter also claims that he faced harassment from some of the doctors at Confluence for refusing the vaccine.

“They were yelling at me at times to tell me that I need to get vaccinated and how foolish I was,” Baxter said. “That I'm not listening to their education and how uneducated I am.”

Jeff Scott is another supporter of the lawsuit and was previously a nurse at Lakeland Village in Medical Lake, WA.

Scott says he does his research through “alternative media sources” and is part of what he ascribes to be the “truth movement.” He also says it gets lonely trying to talk to family members who get their news from “mainstream sources” like CNN, ABC News, and NBC News.

“You start thinking you're the only person on the planet that actually has an idea of what's going on,” Scott said. “I know that sounds arrogant, but you come to places like this, and there's other people out here that have been inconvenienced, injured, put out of work, because of these policies that I have been investigating, and the reasons behind them.” 

Confluence Health’s Seattle-based attorney Jeff James said he could not officially comment on the hearing due to this being an open case. However, he does give his support to Confluence throughout this process.

“I do want to commend the hard working employees of Confluence Health in Central Washington Hospital and Clinics and Wenatchee Valley Hospital and Clinics for the dedicated service they bring to the job every day on behalf of the community,” James said.