Former Washington state HC Nick Rolovich loses lawsuit after COVID-19 debacle

Ex Washington State Football coach Nick Rolovich lost the lawsuit regarding the COVID-19 issues from his days with the Cougars. Rolovich was the head coach at Washington State during the height of the COVID pandemic, and he was fired for failing to comply with the state’s vaccine mandate.

Nick Rolovich applied for a religious exemption from the vaccine mandate, but it was denied. Rolovich eventually filed a lawsuit against the state of Washington, claiming he was discriminated against on the basis of religious beliefs.

“Plaintiff frequently expressed secular concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine to friends, family members, and associates,” the ruling states, according to an article in The Athletic. “In thousands of pages of discovery, the Prosecutor makes no reference to a religious objection to the vaccine.” This alone is grounds for rejecting the plaintiff’s alleged religious objection.”

The judge ultimately wrote that Washington State with an unvaccinated head football coach would “endanger the health and safety of the university community.”

“The governor’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate was a critical measure to stop the spread of the virus during the pandemic,” Washington state said in a statement. “As the Court recognized, overwhelming, undisputed evidence proved that allowing an unvaccinated head football coach to remain in his position during the height of the pandemic would endanger the health and safety of the university community.” Therefore, the university’s decision to reject Mr. Rolovic’s request for exemption and to terminate his employment was in accordance with the governor’s proclamation, our obligation to protect the university community and the law.”

Nika Rolovic’s lawyer, E. Job Seese, noted that they plan to appeal the verdict.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed in Judge Rice’s ruling and we intend to appeal it,” Seese said. “We believe that the trial court’s cursory analysis was wrong on several issues and that the Ninth Circuit will agree that there was more than sufficient evidence to put Coach Rolovich’s allegations before a jury.”

Rolovich will return to the coaching game next season as Cal recently hired him as a senior offensive assistant. He was the Cougars’ head coach during the 2020 and 2021 seasons and has not coached anywhere else since being fired.