General Hospital COVID mandate policy backfires

General Hospital problems increase

In 2021 Disney and ABC mandated that every employee must obtain the COVID-19 vaccination or be terminated. General Hospital executives upheld this policy last year and fired two popular cast members. Ingo Rademacher (Jasper Jacks) and Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) asked for religious exemptions and were denied fired in October of last year. The popular daytime drama has been plagued with troubles ever since.

The purpose of the mandate was supposed to be in the best interest of the cast and crew and to keep everyone safe but it seems to have backfired. After being let go Burton only said he hoped to return to General Hospital someday. Rademacher, on the other hand, voiced his dissatisfaction on social media and filed a lawsuit against Disney and ABC.

New lawsuits filed

Now two crew members have followed his lead as their request for religious exemption was also denied. Father and son James and Timothy Wahl contend that they were wrongfully dismissed from their positions. The elder Wahl ran the construction and special effects department of General Hospital for 14 years, and his son was a crew member for 10 years with the soap.

The Wahls’ have five separate claims, against Disney/ABC including wrongful termination, and alleged that ABC “gave no reason for its decision, except to say that the company was ‘unable to conclude that you are prevented from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine due to a sincerely-held religious belief, practice, or observance."

No date was given for when the Wahl's were released but it was more than likely that it was in the same time frame as the firings of Rademacher and Burton.

COVID persists among General Hospital cast

The irony to all of this is that four cast members who complied with being vaccinated have since admitted to being infected with the coronavirus. Chad Duell (Michael Corinthos), Kelly Thiebaud (Britt Westbourne), Real' Andrews (Marcus Taggert), and Inga Cadranal (Harmony Miller) acknowledged testing positive and recovering from COVID.

Sophia Matthison (Sasha Gilmore ), Johnny Wactor (Brando Corbin), and Kelly Monaco (Sam McCall) all were temporarily replaced but did not give reasons why. Some fans suspect that they may also have had COVID but decided to keep it private. Leslie Charleson (Monica Quartermaine) has been away from General Hospital for several months but there have been no indications of why.

Some fans have suggested that the actress who turned 77 in February may have had COVID and not recovered as quickly as the younger cast. There have been no updates on her condition so General Hospital viewers do not know for certain why Charleson is no longer on the air and wonder if and when she will return.

COVID mandate going forward

Neither NBC nor CBS required their employees to be vaccinated or terminated. There also have not been many actors on the three remaining soaps who have said they tested positive for COVID. Greg Rikaart who portrays Leo Stark on Days of Our Lives and Kevin Fisher on The Young and the Restless tested positive prior to the vaccine being available. He said he had a rough time but is doing well in the aftermath.

News outlets as well as some General Hospital viewers are doubtful that Rademacher or the Wahl's will win their lawsuits against the giant Disney corporation but others believe they have a chance. Some fans say that perhaps the mandate will be lifted and Burton can return to the soap. It's doubtful that the Wahl's or Rademacher would return but you never know. Be on the lookout for updates related to the lawsuits, Leslie Charleson's status as well as other news related to COVID and the GH cast.