Total Vindication: Full Reinstatement and Back Pay For Three Barrington (RI) Teachers Fired For Refusing Covid Vax
Teachers’ lawyer Greg Piccirilli: “The teachers have been made whole. It is as if they were never fired.”
In an overwhelming victory, the three Barrington (RI) teachers fired last year for refusing the Covid vaccine have settled all claims against the Barrington School Committee in their favor, their lawyer, Greg Piccirilli announced today.
We covered the teachers’ ongoing battles with the Barrington school district here:
- “Imagine How it Feels to be One of Only Three Educators out of 21,000 in the State of Rhode Island to Lose Your Job Over This Vaccine”
- Court: Barrington (RI) School Committee Liable For Attorney’s Fees Of Teachers Fired Over Covid Vax Mandate
- Vaccine Mandate That Led To Firing Of Three Barrington (RI) Teachers Lacked Necessary Public Notice, Court Rules
- “Just Devastating” – Three Teachers Who Sought Religious Exemption From Covid Vaccine Fired In Barrington (RI)
Each of the three teachers—Brittany DiOrio, Stephanie Hines, and Kerri Thurber—had requested a religious exemption from taking the Barrington school district’s mandatory Covid vaccine at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. The district denied their requests, suspended them without pay, and ultimately fired them effective January 1st of 2022.
Brittany DiOrio expressed her appreciation for our coverage:
“In January 2022, I was terminated from my teaching position for not following a vaccine mandate. Barrington was and continues to be the only district in the state of RI mandating/terminating teachers for not complying with a mandate. Legal Insurrection not only provided clear, accurate and precise information regarding our case, Professor Jacobson and his team took the time to hear our story and put into words what we had experienced during this incredibly difficult time. Legal Insurrection showcased the blatant overreach of the Barrington school committee as well as the current administration. Continued support and gratitude for the team at Legal Insurrection, who work tirelessly to get the truth heard.”
The school committee has agreed to full reinstatement with back pay, as well as attorney’s fees, it announced today:
The three teachers have the opportunity to return to teaching positions within the Barrington School District should they choose to do so, at the steps they would have been at had they worked continuously. Each individual will receive a payment of $33,333, along with back payments: Stephanie Hines ($65,000), Kerri Thurber ($128,000), and Brittany DiOrio ($150,000). Attorney fees totaling $50,000 will be paid to the teachers’ legal counsel.
Piccirilli says the school has also agreed to pay punitive damages totaling $100,000 to be split three ways among the teachers.
The teachers’ two-year battle with the district also took a toll on their names and reputations. The agreement requires their termination records to be expunged, Piccirilli explained today in an interview.
The teachers have been made whole in every respect, he says. It is as if they were never fired.
Today’s victory isn’t only a vindication for the teachers, Picirilli said in the interview, it should be an example for others who have faced similar trials forcing them to choose between their jobs and their faith:
They’ve shown amazing resilience to stick by their faith. A lot of other people with similar situations have gone through this. And hopefully [this resolution] will serve as an example of how others should be vindicated the same way, for sticking up for what they believe in.
It is more than they could have hoped for, he said, had they gone to trial.
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Comments
I disagree. This was not a victory.
This was just them winning because of ‘religious exemption’.
That’s unacceptable. The CORE PRINCIPLE that ANYBODY can be forced to take an improperly tested so-called ‘vaccine’, and then NOT BE ALLOWED TO SUE THE EMPLOYER OR MAKER IF SOMETHING HAPPENS, is utterly insane.
Winning only because of a religious exemption concedes that the mandate itself was acceptable.
It was not.
What’s wrong with you? The message isn’t that that anyone can sue . Let’s not also forget that manufacturers were exempt from liability under the EUA.
The message, in fact, is that school committees in general , May Not become defacto Local CDC entities and also force employees to take medicine that’s against their religious beliefs in order to stay employed.
And who gave manufacturers the exemption? What right did they have to get an exemption. What right did that party have to grant an exemption and forced experimental drugs being injected into anyone?
The CDC overstepped it’s bounds.
Congratulations to the teachers for sticking with it.
Looking at the District’s announcement, linked above, I notice (1) they did not acknowledge they were wrong in denying the teachers’ religious exemption in the first place, (2) they imply that the teachers were still at fault for not following the vaccination policy “that nearly all faculty and staff adhered to,” and (3) they also pretty much acknowledge that they only settled to avoid further extensive and costly litigation.
Again, I salute them for seeing this ordeal through. They are eligible to return to their previous positions, but I’m not sure I would trust the school system to treat them with anything resembling fairness and impartiality if they accepted their positions back.
I hope that the citizens and voters of that District remember all of this when election time rolls around and votes all of the current board members out.
I have a friend who is still announcing his booster shots.
The country fell to their knees with pleadings to spare their lives.
A liberal idiot at the grocery passed by wearing a shirt thanking fauci for saving his worthless ass.
The fear is ingrained, the next panic will probably have some varient of cattle cars and I don’t see any coalition fighting the fear.
I agree with you in principle, but let’s at least celebrate the few victories we get as independent-minded conservatives.
As you said, this shouldn’t have revolved around a “religious exemption” but unfortunately that was the only means of trying to win in a country that now permits a ludicrous fake-president can mandate a vaccine against our will, and then be largely supported by power-hungry democrats in positions of authority across the country.
This is not the America we grew up with. This is a country where the left has infiltrated the democratic party who now wage war on our liberties, capitalism, the constitution, and of course Christianity.
“…’religious exemption’…was the only means of trying to win”
No, it was not. Refuse the vaccine, get fired. Wait for the court of public opinion to change (as it has, probably contributing to the school department’s wish to avoid actual litigation of the issue), then sue for violation of federal laws concerning the prohibition against mandating experimental medical products (i.e. products being used under an EUA).
This is the core problem here. People were forced/threatened to take a medical product not yet authorized by the FDA for use/being distributed under an EUA. This is not legal. The Obama administration couldn’t even get away with this when trying to force an experimental vaccine on the military, as the attempt was blocked by a court. And no, the Pfizer vaccine (known as “Comirnaty”), although approved, was never available (and Pfizer acknowledged it would never become available). (Pfizer likely did this because they would have lost their immunity from liability if they had made Comirnaty available. Comirnaty’s availability would have terminated the EUA, as an EUA can’t be issued or maintained once an approved drug is available for use. This is why alternatives to COVID treatment such as Ivermectin had to be suppressed. If it had been acknowledged that Ivermectin was effective against COVID, EUAs for the vaccines could not have been issued. The pandemic would have been over before the vaxxes could be approved, and Big Pharma would not have made piles of money.)
A rare and wonderful piece of good news!
3 reinstated and millions to go.
Those that imposed the termination should be terminated for violating their rights. Without consequences for actions…nothing is really solved.
I believe they were elected, so “termination” has to take a different form.
This is true.
I’d settle for extracting the penalty out of their personal finances.
Millions?
Always nice to read good news, but this was an injustice from the start and something no one should ever have to endure.
Does anyone think that we learned from this fiasco? Every single person that lost a job, deserves back pay, with interest. Every. Single. One.
AND all legal fees paid.
Here in WA state, Gov. Inslee has invited those fired from state gov positions for refusal to vax to apply for state jobs. He is not re-instating them, they have to go through the job application process like anyone else. What a POS. This is not acceptable. I hope someone(s) sue.
The punitive damages should have been at least 3 million.
Very, very heartening news.
Hope this also migrates to Australia.
Pat
Barrington needs to come out and admit they were wrong and not just because the court case wasn’t waddling their way.
Much like the ParentsUnitedRI vs. McKee lawsuit, it might be won but what was won if not for the hardships caused by a tyrannical government?
The un-herd, not-shots, astound the world.
We won’t have to worry about any of that once Trump is back in office!
Not really a true statement.
Schools are under local control and the local boards can still mandate it. Trump was right not to force individual states and districts to adhere to a single protocol.
But those locals will still decide to do this nonsense.
That’s a start. Now EVERYONE in the chain of command that fired them needs to be DRUMMED OUT OF THE INDUSTRY PERMANENTLY.
Barrington was probably told to fold. The last thing that authorities want is a court decision establishing a precedent against the firings. This issue must be slow-walked for as long as possible. The state has its finger in the dike, hoping that’s good enough to not be drowned. They fear the dike will rupture in court.
Now that we’ve got that settled,on the left is cuter, but middle is leopard print – grrrrr ….
Congratulations, ladies.
GREAT! Now they need to leave RI.
These teachers’ ntegrity and fortitude will be very attractive to the kind of people they will want to work for.
In private ed, no doubt.
This is the one thing I hate about civil settlements with a govt entity, in the end, the only people who were punished are the one who suffered under the illegal policies, the teachers, and the taxpayer for footing the bill. The real culprits, the ones who instituted these policies still have their jobs and their power.
I’d say the real question is, do you really want to back to work for the same nazis that tried to force you to get the poison jab?