Already have an account?
Get back to the
GENERAL HOSPITAL

ABC Requests Ingo Rademacher’s Lawsuit Be Dismissed

Tags:

In a not-so-shocking move, ABC has asked that the lawsuit Ingo Rademacher (ex-Jax) has pending against the network over his firing from GENERAL HOSPITAL for refusing the COVID-19 vaccination be thrown out of the Los Angeles court system. The reason, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is that not only are Rademacher’s beliefs about the vaccine not ‘religious’ in nature, but he was probably going to be written out of the soap’s storyline anyway.

As previously reported, the actor filed a suit against the network in December 2021 after he was let go from GH for refusing to comply with the network’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate. Rademacher claimed in his filing that the vaccine mandate violated his right to privacy and that he was entitled to a religious exemption. His filing also included claims of religious and disability discrimination and political retaliation, which ABC is now arguing against.

In a Dec. 28, 2022, filing, the network’s attorney, Steven Marenberg, says that the vaccine policy was an “extensive deliberative process at Disney” that included evaluating religious and medical exemptions on a case-by-case basis. When it came time for Rademacher’s review, however, he “stonewalled” the employee relations department. Calling Rademacher’s beliefs against the vaccine “lifestyle choices,” Marenberg wrote, “What limited information he did provide revealed that his opposition to vaccination was rooted in secular, philosophical/moral beliefs. At no point did Rademacher mention that his beliefs are based on, related to, or even loosely connected to any religious text or teaching.”

GH Jax Nina
ABC claims that Rademacher’s religious exemption claims against the COVID-19 vaccination was nothing more than a “lifestyle choice.” Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

Marenberg also disputed Rademacher’s “forced vaccination” and “forced disclosure” theories, stating that ABC’s policy wasn’t forcing the actor to consent to vaccination or publicly announce his status. Rather, Rademacher’s “continued employment” at the network (as a private employer) was conditional on a vaccination. “He can choose not to be vaccinated, and work elsewhere,” wrote Marenberg. As for the actor’s “forced disclosure” claim, Marenberg said that Rademacher “did not keep his status secret” as he  “voluntarily and repeatedly” shared that he was not vaccinated to others and often voiced his opposition to the vaccine on social media “both prior to requesting an accommodation and after his termination. Rademacher did not conduct himself ‘in a manner consistent with’ an actual expectation of privacy.’”

The most shocking revelation in ABC’s filing was that Jax was one of several characters co-headwriter Chris Van Etten was considering writing off the canvas. At the time Rademacher was fired, he was coming to the end of a three-year deal with ABC. (Which required him to comply with all of the network’s policies.) The way the deal was structured, the network could cancel the contract after a six-month increment as long as Rademacher was given six weeks’ notice. When Van Etten was plotting out long-term storylines for the soap in July of 2021, “he identified Jax as among several characters who would be or might possibly be written off the show,” claimed Marenberg. “At that time, Jax’s role in the ongoing storyline was negligible and Van Etten did not see a role for Jax going forward.”

According to Rademacher, the case is set to go to trial in May. Although he has yet to directly comment on ABC’s request to dismiss his lawsuit, the actor did share a cryptic post on Instagram on Jan. 8. “Just one day at a time,” he wrote, adding the hashtag “reminder to self.”

Keep checking back at SoapsInDepth.com for the latest updates as this story continues to develop.

Love GH? Be sure to join our We Love General Hospital Facebook group to chat about all the latest storylines and juicy gossip! 

Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items. Use right arrow key to move into submenus. Use escape to exit the menu. Use up and down arrow keys to explore. Use left arrow key to move back to the parent list.