Officers given 12 weeks to join vaccine mandate lawsuit
Thousands of former and serving Queensland police officers have 12 weeks to officially join a class action against Covid vaccine mandates; It is the second of its kind to be funded by mining billionaire and conservative political hopeful Clive Palmer.
The Supreme Court has ordered the Queensland Police Service to set a deadline for current and former police officers and frontline staff to formally register with the class action if they want a share of any future settlement.
Judge Frances Williams granted QPS what is legally called a “soft class closure order” to help determine the size of the class action and potential payout.
Legal maneuvering is often used in class actions to help determine a possible resolution before the parties go to mediation. This marks an important procedural gain for the police force.
Williams noted that mediation is the next logical step and that “a solution can be reached.”
Unless officers opt out, they will be subject to any agreement and will not be able to bring similar or related action against the QPS. Likewise, unless officers are formally enrolled in a class action lawsuit, there is a risk they may not receive compensation from any out-of-court settlement.
The class-action lawsuit, led by three plaintiffs, was filed in October 2024 challenging the police department’s COVID vaccine mandates.
The report argues that the authority given by then-commissioner Katarina Carroll in September 2021 was coercive and “unlawful from the outset.” While some police officers were dismissed, some were suspended from duty on the grounds that they did not comply with the instructions.
This follows another class action against vaccine mandates, backed by Clive Palmer. The first class action, brought on behalf of police and ambulance paramedics, was successful, with Supreme Court Justice Glenn Martin ruling that COVID vaccine directives violated the human rights of some frontline workers.
Palmer said he provided at least $2.5 million to support the initial lawsuit.
While Martin did not find that mandatory vaccinations contravened the Human Rights Act, he did rule that the orders were unlawful.
A pool of up to 18,987 current and former officers and staff employed by QPS between 7 September 2021 and 12 December 2022 are eligible to join the current class action.
Within the scope of the case, these employees are divided into three groups.
The first refused to be vaccinated and were either suspended or fired from their jobs; The second, called the “Vaccine Enforcement Group,” only got vaccinated because of the mandate; and a third requested a medical exemption but was denied and then received the vaccine.
Lawyers handling the class-action lawsuit said the registration process was premature because an estimate of the number of officers willing to participate could be made from employment records.
However, QPS argued that having a registration process would “increase the likelihood that a credible settlement offer will be made and at the same time a rational agreement will be reached”.
“It is not known at this time whether group members in the Vaccine Challenge Group are in the dozens, hundreds, thousands, or towards the ‘cap’ of 18,987. Proportionality should become clearer through the registration process,” Williams’ decision said.
The judge also ordered QPS to notify all current and former staff working during the relevant period by email or post of the deadline.
Class action lawyers are required to publish notices in News Corp newspapers to alert former QPS employees who cannot be reached by post.
Officers and staff have until 4pm on September 18 to register or withdraw from the class action lawsuit through Sibley Lawyers.
Queensland Police Service said it could not comment on current legal proceedings. Sibley Lawyers has been approached for comment.
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