Federal Agencies Told to Expunge Employee COVID-19 Vaccination Records

“Agencies may not use an individual’s COVID-19 vaccine status ... in any employment-related decisions,” a memorandum stated.

A health care worker prepares a COVID-19 vaccine, in this file photo. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Federal agencies must eliminate records related to whether employees received a COVID-19 vaccine, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said on Aug. 8.

“All information related to an employee’s COVID-19 vaccine status, noncompliance with prior vaccine mandates, or exemption requests must be expunged from any employee’s Official Personnel Folder,” OPM Director Scott Kupor told department heads in a memorandum.

The OPM stated that effective immediately, “federal agencies may not use an individual’s COVID-19 vaccine status, history of noncompliance with prior COVID-19 vaccine mandates, or requests for exemptions from such mandates in any employment-related decisions, including, but not limited to, hiring, promotion, discipline, or termination.”

The directive came in response to a recent settlement in a case brought by a group of federal employees.

Kupor credited President Donald Trump with the development.

“Things got out of hand during the pandemic, and federal workers were fired, punished, or sidelined for simply making a personal medical decision,” he said in a statement.

“That should never have happened. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we’re making sure the excesses of that era do not have lingering effects on federal workers.”

The case was brought by Feds for Freedom in federal court in 2021. It challenged President Joe Biden’s imposition of a COVID-19 mandate for federal workers.

A judge blocked the mandate with a preliminary injunction, but the injunction was lifted by an appeals court and was ultimately vacated by the Supreme Court.

The case had been proceeding since then.

Galveston, Texas-based U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, who was overseeing the case, on Aug. 8 ordered the dismissal with prejudice.

Government attorneys and lawyers for the plaintiffs said in an Aug. 7 joint stipulation that they had agreed to the dismissal.

“Our victory is a long-overdue confirmation of what we have asserted all along: COVID mandates were unconstitutional, immoral, and un-American,” Marcus Thornton, president and co-founder of Feds for Freedom, said in a statement.

Trent McCotter of Boyden Gray PLLC, one of the lawyers representing the group, said, “Nothing can fully compensate employees for the harms suffered, but today’s settlement provides critical prospective relief and shows the Trump Administration is on our side and willing to help right those wrongs.”

The settlement, which has not been made public, includes reimbursement of a portion of Feds for Freedom’s legal fees, according to the lawyers.