Motion for Class Certification — U.S. Navy SEALs 4-26 — Lloyd J. Austin, III — No. 4:21-cv-01236-O (Document 89)

Date: 2022-01-25

Summary

A Motion for Class Certification filed January 25, 2022 as Document 89 in U.S. Navy SEALs 1-3, et al. v. Lloyd J. Austin, III, in his official capacity as United States Secretary of Defense, et al., Case No. 4:21-cv-01236-O, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division. The named plaintiffs, SEALs 1-3 and EOD 1, ask the court to certify under Rule 23(b)(2) a Navy Class of Navy members subject to the Navy's COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate who have submitted a Religious Accommodation request. They also seek a Naval Special Warfare/Operations Subclass and a Navy SEALs Subclass, and ask that plaintiffs' counsel be appointed class counsel under Rule 23(g). The three-page motion is signed by Andrew B. Stephens of Hacker Stephens LLP, with First Liberty Institute also listed in the signature block, and includes certificates of conference and service.

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“Motion for Class Certification — U.S. Navy SEALs 4-26 — Lloyd J. Austin, III — No. 4:21-cv-01236-O (Document 89).” Original at archive.org, dated 2022-01-25. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2022-01-25-plaintiffs-v-lloyd-j-austin-iii-in-his-official/, SHA-256 e52db5ae94e603c59c17fa4730dad042a9bcce13b127bfa93ece74968b6cf6be.

Full text

Case 4:21-cv-01236-O Document 89 Filed 01/25/22 Page 1 of 3 PageID 2757

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
FORT WORTH DIVISION

U.S. NAVY SEALs 1-3, on behalf of
themselves and all others similarly situated;
U.S. NAVY EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE
DISPOSAL TECHNICIAN 1, on behalf of
himself and all others similarly situated; U.S.
NAVY SEALS 4-26; U.S. NAVY SPECIAL
WARFARE COMBATANT CRAFT
CREWMEN 1-5; and U.S. NAVY DIVERS
1-3,

Plaintiffs, Case No. 4:21-cv-01236-O

LLOYD J. AUSTIN, III, in his official
capacity as United States Secretary of Defense;
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF
DEFENSE; CARLOS DEL TORO, in his
official capacity as United States Secretary of
the Navy,

Defendants.

MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

Plaintiffs United States Navy SEALs 1-3 (“SEALs 1-3”) and United States Navy Explosive

Ordnance Disposal Technician 1 (“EOD 1”) (“Named Plaintiffs”), on behalf of themselves and all

others similarly situated, file this Motion for Class Certification and respectfully request that the

Court enter an order certifying the following class and subclasses under Rule 23(b)(2) of the

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure:

(a) a class of all members of the United States Navy who are subject to the Navy’s COVID-
19 Vaccine Mandate and who have submitted a Religious Accommodation request
concerning the Navy’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate (“Navy Class”);

(b) a subclass of all members of the Navy Class who are now or will be assigned to Naval
Special Warfare or Naval Special Operations, who are subject to the Navy’s COVID-

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Case 4:21-cv-01236-O Document 89 Filed 01/25/22 Page 2 of 3 PageID 2758

19 Vaccine Mandate, and who have submitted a Religious Accommodation request
concerning the Navy’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate (“Naval Special
Warfare/Operations Subclass”);

(c) a subclass of all members of the Navy Class who are now or will be United States Navy
SEALs, who are subject to the Navy’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate, and who have
submitted a Religious Accommodation request concerning the Navy’s COVID-19
Vaccine Mandate (“Navy SEALs Subclass”).

Plaintiffs further request that the Court enter an order appointing Plaintiffs’ counsel as class

counsel under Rule 23(g) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Respectfully submitted this 25th day of January, 2022.

Kelly J. Shackelford /s/ Andrew B. Stephens
Texas Bar No. 18070950 Heather Gebelin Hacker
Jeffrey C. Mateer Texas Bar No. 24103325
Texas Bar No. 13185320 Andrew B. Stephens
Hiram S. Sasser, III Texas Bar No. 24079396
Texas Bar No. 24039157 HACKER STEPHENS LLP
David J. Hacker 108 Wild Basin Road South, Suite 250
Texas Bar No. 24103323 Austin, Texas 78746
Michael D. Berry Tel.: (512) 399-3022
Texas Bar No. 24085835 heather@hackerstephens.com
Justin Butterfield andrew@hackerstephens.com
Texas Bar No. 24062642
Danielle Runyan * Attorneys for Plaintiffs
New Jersey Bar No. 027232004
Holly M. Randall *
Oklahoma Bar No. 34763
FIRST LIBERTY INSTITUTE
2001 W. Plano Pkwy., Ste. 1600
Plano, Texas 75075
Tel: (972) 941-4444
jmateer@firstliberty.org
hsasser@firstliberty.org
dhacker@firstliberty.org
mberry@firstliberty.org
jbutterfield@firstliberty.org
drunyan@firstliberty.org
hrandall@firstliberty.org

Jordan E. Pratt
Florida Bar No. 100958* **
FIRST LIBERTY INSTITUTE
227 Pennsylvania Ave., SE

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Case 4:21-cv-01236-O Document 89 Filed 01/25/22 Page 3 of 3 PageID 2759

Washington, DC 20003
Tel: (972) 941-4444
jpratt@firstliberty.org

*Admitted pro hac vice
** Not yet admitted to the D.C. Bar, but
admitted to practice law in Florida. Practicing
law in D.C. pursuant to D.C. Court of Appeals
Rule 49(c)(8) under the supervision of an
attorney admitted to the D.C. Bar.

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

Plaintiffs’ counsel emailed Defendants’ counsel on January 25, 2022 regarding this motion.

As of filing, Defendants’ counsel has not responded or otherwise indicated whether Defendants

are opposed or unopposed to the relief requested in the motion.

/s/ Andrew B. Stephens
Andrew B. Stephens
Counsel for Plaintiffs

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on January 25, 2022, I electronically filed the foregoing document

through the Court’s ECF system, which automatically notifies counsel of record for each party.

/s/ Andrew B. Stephens
Andrew B. Stephens
Counsel for Plaintiffs

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Our copy: gov.uscourts.txnd.355696.89.0.pdf
Original: archive.org