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Notice of Violation to Leon County can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cIt is unacceptable that Leon County violated Florida law, infringed on current and former employees\u2019 medical privacy, and fired loyal public servants because of their personal health decisions,\u201d said Governor Ron DeSantis. \u201cWe will continue fighting for Floridians\u2019 rights and the Florida Department of Health will continue to enforce the law. We\u2019re going to stand up for Floridians\u2019 jobs, stand up for Floridians\u2019 livelihoods, and stand up for freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leon County Administrator Vince Long recently vowed to fight back. Long said \u201cthere is a genuine disagreement about the applicability of the statute and rule, and the County will enforce its rights using any remedies available at law, if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Long believes the DOH fine is political.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obvious to me that the governor\u2019s position here is political strategy which has nothing to do with the positions we\u2019ve taken,\u201d Long said.<\/p>\n
On July 28, Leon County Government mandated that its employees provide verification of vaccination to its human resources department no later than October 1. On October 4, Leon County terminated 14 employees for their refusal or failure comply with this requirement.\u00a0 Leon County Government required 700 of their employees to provide this proof in order to keep their jobs.<\/p>\n
While Leon County has broken the law and received notice of a multi-million dollar fine, other local governments have reversed course. Last week, after alerting the City of Gainesville of their possible violation of the vaccination passport ban in Florida, the Florida Department of Health received a response indicating the City of Gainesville rescinded its employee vaccine mandate. This reversal also follows an Eighth Judicial Circuit Court temporary injunction preventing vaccine mandates for city employees.<\/p>\n