Whatcom County Superior Court postpones jury trials, mandates employee COVID vaccination
A pair of orders signed Friday, Aug. 27, by Presiding Judge Robert Olson postponed all jury trials in Whatcom County Superior Court until Oct. 4 and required all employees of the court to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 1.
The 24th Administrative Order, signed by Olson, “prohibits any direct employees of the Whatcom County Superior Court, including employees who are volunteers, on contract or in part-time employment, who have not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 from engaging in work after November 1, 2021.”
The order went on to say that court employees who do not get vaccinated must qualify for an exemption to be eligible for employment and that the court would comply with collective bargaining obligations for represented employees.
Court employees are not required to get vaccinated if they are eligible under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Washington Law Against Discrimination or any other disability-related law or a “sincerely held religious belief.”
“Reasonable accommodations will be determined on an individualized basis and, where any employee is determined to be exempt from this mandate, accommodations may include, but are not limited to, requirements to wear a mask, obtain viral testing regularly, socially distance or work remotely,” the order read.
Court employees who are not granted an exemption will need to provide proof of full vaccination, according to the order.
The order comes nine days after the Supreme Court of the State of Washington encouraged all other courts in the state to adopt a vaccine mandate.
The 25th Administrative Order, meanwhile, said that jury trials will not be conducted at the court until Oct. 4, due to the ongoing effects of COVID-19 and the delta variant in the area. The order comes more than two weeks after the court re-issued a courtroom mask mandate on Aug. 12 in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Whatcom County Superior Court trials were suspended for almost the first year of the pandemic, before resuming in March.
While the overall number of cases filed in Superior Court in 2020 was down about 25% from 2019, felony criminal case filings were up by nearly 4%, according to data from the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts analyzed by The Bellingham Herald. At the same time, case resolutions and trials decreased by nearly a third compared to the previous year, the data shows.
For prosecuting attorneys and public defenders, that meant higher caseloads and for defendants and victims, it meant delayed justice.
As of Thursday, the Washington State Department of Health COVID Data Dashboard reported Whatcom County has had 11,200 confirmed COVID-19 cases during the pandemic, including 1,209 in the month of August.
Whatcom County Jail outbreak
The Superior Court orders come a week after the Whatcom County Jail reported that it had a COVID-19 outbreak.
As of Tuesday, Aug. 24, the outbreak had spread to 12 corrections deputies, Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Deb Slater told The Bellingham Herald. The first tested positive on Aug. 14 during a weekly testing that all corrections deputies have undergone since late 2020.
The outbreak is believed to have started when a person who was being booked into the jail was uncooperative and refused to answer any health-related questions or be tested for COVID-19, Slater reported last week. The person reportedly was isolated from others in the jail and later tested positive.
Several corrections deputies were involved in the booking, and it is believed they were exposed at that time, according to Slater.
“One deputy has returned to work after completing the quarantine period and being medically cleared,” Slater told The Herald in an email Tuesday. “We anticipate other deputies will be returning over the next 2 weeks. We have been able to successfully fill all shifts with either overtime or by shifting specialty deputies from their regular duties.”
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 3:06 PM.
