Former scout suing Nationals over being fired for not taking COVID-19 vaccine

A former Washington Nationals scout is suing the organization over being fired for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

Benny Gallo, an area scout for the team since 2012, was fired in August after his religious exemption to the club’s vaccine mandate for non-playing employees was denied. 

Gallo and his attorneys have filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., federal court. According to a press release sent by the Thomas More Society — the nonprofit law firm representing the former scout — Gallo wants to be reinstated and receive back pay from the Nationals.

“Receiving the COVID-19 vaccination would violate my sincerely held religious beliefs, practices and/or observances,” Gallo wrote last year, according to filing records. “… In prayer I feel my Lord and Saviour is giving me the freedom to make a choice concerning my body.” 

Gallo is being represented by attorneys Charles LiMandri, Rachel Rodriguez and Mark Myers. 

“The dismissal of Mr. Gallo and the denial of his request for a religious exemption is discriminatory and unlawful,” LiMandri said in a press release. “The Nationals continued to employ others — including another scout — who requested and received similar accommodations for medical reasons.”

The lawsuit is the second to be filed against the team by former employees in recent months.

In November, two former pitching coaches in the organization, Brad Holman and Larry Prado, filed a joint lawsuit against the club for its COVID-19 vaccine mandate that resulted in their firings. 

For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.