Ingo Rademacher, now a former actor on ABC’s General Hospital, was allegedly fired last month for failing to get his Covid-19 vaccine. Now he’s filing with LA Superior Court for loss of wages and other damages on the premise of religious discrimination. He claims that the Disney-owned network’s requirements are unconstitutional.
According to Deadline, Rademacher is being represented by lawyers from JW Howard Attorneys, LTD. Variety specifies that, in particular, his lawyers are Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and John W. Howard, the latter of which has filed multiple lawsuits against vaccine mandates.
The suit argues that ABC is required to honor his request for religious exemption from the vaccine, and that Rademacher is essentially facing religious discrimination because his beliefs were questioned.
USA Today describes how this alleged discrimination came about, describing that the former-actor sent an email to Disney’s HR department in October after learning that “sincere religious objections” to the vaccine would be respected by ABC. Rademacher was then invited to an interview, which he claimed was more akin to “half an hour of cross-examination about his religious beliefs” in which he was “denied his exemption request, without explanation.”
In particular, it appears that Rademacher perceives the “questioning the sincerity of one’s religious beliefs in order to deny a request for an exemption” as the act of religious discrimination. The suit further claims that the denial “violates federal and state civil rights laws.” Insider makes note of his further remarks, that his “bodily integrity” and “informational privacy” were both violated because of ABC’s policy.
“ABC does not have the authority to force a medical treatment to its employees against their will,” continues the suit, “These actions constitute religious discrimination and violate Mr. Rademacher’s rights…”
Regardless of the suit’s claims, it should be known that Disney made having a vaccination mandatory in July for many of those who work in its studios, apparently one of the strictest mandates for any Hollywood studio or major corporation.
He and another actor who was outspoken about opposing the vaccine mandate had both been against a requirement that went up on part of General Hospital’s set, according to the NY Post.
The area, called “Zone A” initially permitted actions to work without masks from time, even though they were physically very close to each other. Both cast and crew, according to the article, would occasionally work without Personal Protective Equipment while the cameras were rolling. All who worked in Zone A were required to be vaccinated.
Some speculations have been made that Rademacher was already on his way out of the cast of General Hospital, or at least that he was on bad terms with some of the other cast members. Apparently he made some comments that were interpreted as transphobic, and at least one of the other actors on the show identifies as a transgender person.
The idea of the actor being transphobic took root when Rademacher shared a tweet that appeared to misgender a trans person unrelated to the show. However, trans actor Cassandra James took notice and is said to have called him out, also on Twitter.
He later apologized for these tweets and edited them, though fans make the speculation that he’s since maintained a falling out with both James and Nancy Lee Grahn, another actor. Some sources also share a number of other quotes in which Rademacher shares examples of how he is not transphobic, including buying his son a dress.
The General Hospital alum has also gone further on the apology, stating, “I do apologize again for not writing that correctly and taking that out because I wouldn’t refer to a transgender person as a dude if they want to be called a she… That’s totally fine.”
Decider says that Ingo Rademacher played Jasper “Jax” Jacks on General Hospital beginning in 1996. His last episode is noted to have aired on November 22, a Monday.
The character left the show with the explanation that he had things to settle in Australia, telling another character, “I’m kind of on the outs with everyone in Port Charles right now,” alluding to the fictional town. Some have made the connection that the character’s statement alludes to Rademacher’s real life issues with other actors, due his prior comments.
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