He’s giving it a shot.
Actor Rockmond Dunbar sued Disney after getting fired from the Fox drama “9-1-1″ for refusing to get a COVID vaccine.
Dunbar, 49, said he filed for medical and religious exemptions but was denied both. He was written off “9-1-1″ in an episode that aired in November, but the door was left open for his character’s return.
In the suit filed Wednesday, Dunbar said that other cast and crew received exemptions but he was singled out because of his race.
“Dunbar understands that other members of the ‘9-1-1′ cast and crew who also could not be vaccinated have been accommodated, though none sought a religious exemption and none were Black,” the lawsuit said.
Disney said that it reviewed all exceptions on a case-by-case basis and claimed it didn’t discriminate against Dunbar, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Dunbar also said that his employers portrayed him as an irrational anti-vaxxer when firing him, hurting his prospects for future jobs.
Dunbar’s religious exemption request was tied to his membership in the Church of Universal Wisdom, which he joined in 2013, the lawsuit said. For nearly two decades, the Church of Universal Wisdom has been known as a favorite among vaccine opponents. It was founded in 1975.
The suit did not specify what inspired Dunbar’s medical exemption request. When he was canned, he said: “My sincerely held beliefs and private medical history are very intimate and personal aspects of my life that I do not publicly discuss and have no desire to start now.”
Many different Hollywood productions have instituted COVID vaccine mandates. Actors Ingo Rademacher and Steve Burton both left ABC soap opera “General Hospital” over its vaccine requirement.
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