POSTGAME

Allison Williams Sues Disney and ESPN Over COVID Vaccine Mandate Firing

Williams had unsuccessfully applied for an exemption to the company’s mandate on the grounds of disability and religious beliefs, her suit claims.

Fox Sports broadcaster Allison Williams is suing her former employer ESPN after the company fired her for refusing to comply with the network’s COVID vaccine mandate. Williams and ex-ESPN producer Beth Faber filed the joint suit in Connecticut on Wednesday, which argues that ESPN and Disney violated their religious beliefs. According to the complaint, Williams says she had asked for an “exemption from vaccination on grounds of disability” as she was undergoing IVF and was “concerned about the potential unknown effects the vaccination would have on the fetus.” She later asked for a religious exemption which was turned down. “[Williams] informed Defendants in writing that she was a Christian and that her sincerely held and heartfelt religious beliefs prohibited her from being vaccinated,” the suit reads. The request was denied and she was terminated from ESPN on Oct. 2021 after refusing to be vaccinated. Williams announced she was joining Fox Sports in August last year.