Football coach fired after failing to comply to vaccine mandate

Nick Rolovich, Washington State football coach was fired on Monday for not complying with the vaccine mandate. Multiple state employees have been fired or put on leave because of their failure to comply with the vaccine mandate set for all government employees by Governor Jay Inslee. The deadline to get vaccinated or apply for exemption ended on Monday. 

Rolovich was the highest-paid employee of the state making $3.2 million per year, thus his dismissal has been one of the most shocking so far. A few other members of the football team also lost their jobs due to non-compliance. According to an interview given by retired coach June Jones, Rolovich had filed for a religious exemption but the outcome of the same was unclear. Even if the exemption had fallen through, he would have had to show proof that his job did not involve close human contact which is not appropriate for a football coach. Washington State University President said that there are just a few employees who are non-compliant with the vaccine mandate and appropriate action has been taken against them. 90 percent of the staff and 97 percent of students have been vaccinated. Athletic Director Pat Chun and President Kirk Schilz said that discussions regarding the repercussions of his decision were conveyed to Rolovich months ago but he chose to maintain his stance of non-compliance. Chun also mentioned that ultimately the student-athletes under Rolovich's guidance were the ones at loss. 

Source: The Washington Post