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A veteran Washington state firefighter who helped respond to some of America's first COVID-19 patients says he lost the career he loved after refusing to violate his religious beliefs to comply with a vaccine mandate, and is now fighting to have his day in court.
Scott Carlson, a former lieutenant with the Redmond Fire Department, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that he and his colleagues spent 18 months on the front lines of the pandemic without a single case of cross-contamination before the city's vaccine requirements upended his career.
"We worked 18 months with zero cross-contaminations," Carlson said. "We did our job very well. And then the governor came out and said that they wanted us to get the COVID vaccine mandate."
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But when Washington officials implemented COVID-19 vaccination requirements, Carlson said he sought a religious exemption in 2021, only to learn that he would not be permitted to continue working. First Liberty did not elaborate on his behalf regarding his religious exemption request.
"I went through and applied for a religious exemption," Carlson recalled. "I had to prove that I was actually religious, and it wasn't just something I wanted."
"And then about 10 days later, the mayor [Angela Birney] came back and got rid of all of that and said no, and then decided to terminate all of us," Carlson alleged.
According to court documents, Carlson filed a lawsuit against the City of Redmond in federal court on Dec. 8, 2022, alleging that officials violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to accommodate his religious beliefs and retaliating against him for requesting an exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The lawsuit was later amended twice to include additional firefighters after they received notices from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission granting them the right to sue, according to the court filing.
The firefighters are appealing a December 2025 federal district court ruling that sided with the City of Redmond, rejecting their claims that the city failed to accommodate their religious beliefs and retaliated against them for seeking exemptions from its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Their attorney, Cliff Martin, told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday that the case involves more than a disagreement over vaccine policy. He alleges the city had positions available that could have accommodated the firefighters but appeared to keep those opportunities from them.
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According to First Liberty Institute, who is representing the eight firefighters, Carlson initially received religious exemptions before those accommodations were revoked following an executive order from Redmond's mayor. The firefighters' attorneys allege that city officials subsequently withheld information about available positions that could have allowed the employees to remain on the job. The legal team is asking the Ninth Circuit to overturn a lower court ruling that rejected their claims.
"We're at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and we are hopeful that the circuit court will reverse a summary judgment order and will recognize and vindicate the victims of this religious discrimination," Martin told Fox News Digital.
Martin alleged that the employer could have transferred the firefighters into other roles where vaccination was not required.
"Instead, they hid those available positions from the plaintiffs and then filled them with vaccinated firefighters so that there was nowhere to transfer these unvaccinated firefighters who had a religious objection to the COVID vaccine," he said.
Those allegations are central to the firefighters' legal challenge and have not been independently established in the interview material provided to Fox News Digital.
For Carlson, the consequences went far beyond losing a paycheck.
He said firefighting was a calling that allowed him to serve his community, use his skills and help others during some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
"The emotion of losing my career, and what I feel a little bit is what my purpose is, over my faith, that was a heart divided, because I love Jesus so much that I was like, ‘Hey, I'm going to follow you no matter what, I'm on team Jesus. But dang it, this is hard.’"
Carlson said the loss of his position meant losing an important part of how he served others.
"This is how I serve. This is how I love on the community," he said. "So, that was a very hard emotion to say that I'm no longer going to be able to do this."
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has faded from daily headlines, Carlson said the legal and personal consequences remain unresolved for people who lost their jobs during the vaccine mandate era.
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"A lot of people say, ‘Oh, COVID's over, the pandemic's over,’ and a lot of people have varying opinions about it," Carlson said. "Most of those opinions have changed. Most people are shocked to hear that things aren't done. They hear, ‘Oh, hey, the military is having some of these cases or some of these things changed,’ or somebody else has had a success or a victory in this sense."
Martin said the appeal raises fundamental questions about the extent of employers' obligations to consider religious accommodations.
"No employee should have to choose between their faith and their job here," Martin said.
A spokesperson for the City of Redmond told Fox News Digital that the city "does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation. The City will continue to address this matter through the appropriate legal channels."
A spokesperson for the Redmond mayor's office told Fox News Digital it could only refer to the city's statement due to the ongoing nature of the litigation.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Redmond Fire Department for comment.
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