Higher Education

Law professor sues George Mason University, challenging covid vaccine mandate

By Susan Svrluga
August 4, 2021 at 6:34 p.m. EDT

A law-school professor filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging George Mason University’s coronavirus vaccine mandate, arguing it is unnecessarily coercive and unconstitutional.

The nonprofit New Civil Liberties Alliance filed the case against George Mason’s president and some of its other leaders in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of Todd Zywicki, a professor at the university’s Antonin Scalia Law School.

The lawsuit argues that the public university has no compelling interest in overriding Zywicki’s personal autonomy and that because none of the vaccines approved for use in the United States has received full Food and Drug Administration approval, the school’s policy is in conflict with federal law.

Robin Rose Parker, a spokeswoman for George Mason, said the university has no comment on the litigation.

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Zywicki said in an interview that he would have gotten vaccinated if he had not already contracted, and recovered from, covid-19. He said he was advised by his immunologist that he has strong natural immunity to the virus now, confirmed by positive antibody tests, and that a vaccine is medically unnecessary.

“I would rather rely on the advice of my doctor,” Zywicki said, “than mid-level bureaucrats at Mason who are designing a one-size-fits-all solution.”

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By Susan Svrluga
Susan Svrluga is a reporter covering higher education for The Washington Post. Before that, she covered education and local news at The Post. Twitter https://twitter.com/SusanSvrluga

Todd J. Zywicki

George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law

AB, Dartmouth College; MA, Clemson University; JD, University of Virginia

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