SAN DIEGO — A lawsuit challenging the city of San Diego's COVID- 19 vaccine mandate for city employees was announced Friday, which has received public backing from a group of local police officers and firefighters.
The lawsuit was described during a Friday press conference as litigation filed in support of hundreds of local first responders and city employees facing potential termination for noncompliance with the city's mandate.
A spokesperson with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria's office declined comment and referred questions to the City Attorney's Office, since it involved ongoing litigation. A City Attorney's Office spokeswoman said, "We will review the complaint and respond through the court."
Amy Bohn, president of Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids -- or PERK -- one of the groups behind the suit, called the mandate "coercion" and a "direct assault on (city employees') freedoms," which she said would have a major impact on public safety if unvaccinated officers and firefighters were terminated.
According to the city, more than 150 San Diego police officers were out with COVID as of Thursday. Earlier this month the police department said, despite those absences, there is no reason to believe they are facing a crisis.
"They've had to operate on a shortage even before COVID so now obviously they're feeling the pinch more," said Shannon Marlene.
Her husband is a San Diego police officer who has been at the department for eight years. She said with the shortage of staff there have been a few bumps along the way.
"The challenge is that they're not able to handle as many radio calls. They're not able to respond as quickly as they would have if they had four to six people on their certain command," said Marlene.
The department employs about 2,600 employees. The city has mandated employees get the vaccine although some 400 police officers have not gotten it - including Marlene's husband.
"This opens the eyes because this could potentially get worse if they do in fact fire 400 of these officers," she said. "That is what the city is saying 'we're going to terminate you if you don't comply," said Marlene.
CalFire is also working through staffing shortages. Captain Thomas Shoots said he's not worried right now because we typically don't see wildfires during the winter, however, hotter months will be here soon.
"It could continue to be a challenge if we continue to see these waves of new variants. We're cautiously optimistic things are on the up and up. We're hopeful as we go into fire season we'll be looking better," said Shoots.
The San Diego Police Officers' Association declined CBS 8's request for comment on the staffing shortages.
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