A lawsuit was filed against Atlas Air and will eventually include other major US airlines, along with two federal departments over the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policies..John Pierce Law is representing more than 100 plaintiffs — mostly unvaccinated pilots, flight attendants and other staff — from the US Freedom Flyers (USFF) and Atlas Air, claiming the vaccine mandates infringe on their constitutional, religious, and medical liberties. .The case was filed in the Southern District of Florida federal court and will eventually include lawsuits against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT), as reported by The Epoch Times. .“Fundamentally, this case is about whether Americans should be required to choose between their livelihoods and being coerced into taking an experimental, dangerous medical treatment,” reads the lawsuit.."It is also about the safety of America's airline industry. Should pilots — under federal regulations required to be among the healthiest workers in the United States — who have taken an experimental 'vaccine' that is now shown to have potentially deadly, long-term side effects, be allowed to fly massive aircraft in our skies? While those who have (smartly) refrained from such a course be forced out of their jobs?"."Pilots whose health is compromised because of coercion from the government and their employers are now afraid to come forward with chest pains and other indicators of conditions that will soon cause a mass casualty airline event."."They are afraid to lose their jobs, but failing to come forward itself is a criminal act. At the same time, pilots whose health is perfect because they had the foresight to refuse the vaccine are daily harassed, intimidated and threatened with the loss of their careers.".Atlas Air is one of the biggest cargo carriers in the industry with the largest fleet of Boeing 747 aircraft. .Attorney John Pierce is the founder of John Pierce Law, as well as the National Constitutional Law Union (NCLU). NCLU is a non-profit organization focused on "providing legal support and funding to individuals whose constitutional rights, civil liberties and similar rights are being violated or in jeopardy," said its website. .“So the complaint has been filed. We’re in the process of serving everyone," Pierce told The Epoch Times.."And then, we’ll likely be looking for some kind of injunctive relief here soon to make sure that all the COVID-related mandates stop immediately. And then we’ll proceed [with] litigation, motion, practice, and discovery and then onward to trial eventually.” .He said his firm will also be launching another similar suit against United Airlines. Following that, he will be bringing action against more than a dozen other carriers as well as the FAA and DOT.."We’re gonna get these vaccine mandate type of rules and COVID restrictions ruled unconstitutional. And we’re gonna get findings that there was discrimination under Title Seven," said Pierce. ."We’re gonna get punitive damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress and things like that.".“It’s going to require a big fix, ultimately. And that’s probably going to require legislation and kind of getting all the stakeholders at the table, but the first step is civil litigation.”.All airlines fall under government contract and thus were affected by President Joe Biden's September 2021 order for federal contractors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19..Pierce said these lawsuits are "absolutely crucial" and said anyone having to choose between getting an experimental shot or a paycheque is "un-American, it's unconstitutional, it's outrageous, it's sickening." ."If that's not the hill to die on when it comes to liberty, that's about as close as I can imagine it," he said. .The Western Standard contacted Atlas Air for comment, but did not hear back in time for publishing. .USFF spokesman Josh Yoder said the mandates have only brought "harassment, threats, intimidation, vaccine injuries" and suicides. .USFF is an all-volunteer group of American transportation professionals dedicated to protecting "your inalienable right to travel freely without government obstruction based on your vaccination status," reads their website. ."We have the unvaccinated who have been harassed, threatened, and intimidated into getting vaccinated," said Yoder.."Then we have many people as well who got vaccinated against their will, who were coerced and forced into doing it under threat of losing their employment.".“And then, in addition, we have the vaccine-injured, and the numbers of vaccine-injured are growing by the day. It’s just incredible what’s happening with pilots.”.The Global Aviation Advocacy Coalition (GAAC) recently put out an open statement calling on all airline regulators to publicly address the growing number of commercial pilots who are vaccine injured. .Calling it a "crisis in pilot health," signatories from Canadian, UK, US, Australia, France, Netherlands, Switzerland and International aviation, medical, scientific and ethics bodies published the open letter to bring awareness to vaccine injured commercial pilots..The letter claims civil aviation regulators, those ultimately responsible for the safe and secure transport of citizens, ignored their own safety recommendation advising against the use of new or unproven drugs by flight crews..Matt Sattler, one of the founders of Free to Fly, a group of airline professionals and passengers opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine mandates, has been a pilot for more than 14 years, most recently with Air Canada. .Sattler was put on leave without pay from Air Canada on October 30 along with thousands of other airline employees across the industry. .Sattler said he and others with Free to Fly hope to see success with these lawsuits in the US, and believe the results would have an impact on the cultural landscape of Canada when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine mandates. ."The legal landscape in the US is very different than in Canada, but they are somewhat connected with common law and such," Sattler told the Western Standard. ."With Free to Fly, our main focus has always been on the court of public opinion. We have focused on either waging these battles publicly or privately with decision makers." .Sattler said legal action in Canada is the group's ultimate goal, but said it has to be strategic to not only bring an end to the mandates, but ensure they never happen again.
