Fired Seattle-area detective calls out 'hypocrisy' of COVID vaccine mandates after being called back to court
Jenifer Eshom, former King County detective, forced to travel across US for court cases
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jenifer Eshom was fired from her position as a detective at the King County Sheriff’s Office in Washington State over her refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. She’s now calling out the hypocrisy of the system after she was ordered to return to testify in court in her old cases.
Eshom explained on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday that she was ordered to be physically present in court for her cases that were moving through the system when she was fired.
"Ironically, these were the exact same buildings, for instance, the courthouse and other King County buildings, that prior to my termination, I was actually ordered that I was forbidden to even enter these buildings because I was too much of a danger to my coworkers and the public for being unvaccinated," she told host Ainsley Earhardt.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 16: Nearly 1,000 people gather at the Times Square and march on streets to protest vaccination mandate during "Freedom Rally" in New York City, United States on October 16, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
VETERAN POLICE OFFICER RESIGNS OVER VACCINE MANDATE IN CHRONICALLY UNDERSTAFFED DEPARTMENT
Eshom said her vaccine status is no longer a concern while inside the government buildings now that she is not an employee at the sheriff’s office.
She asked her former employer not to terminate her until after the cases moved through the system because she planned to move out of state after being fired.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Their response was just that my future plans did not mean anything to them, and they were going to go ahead with my termination no matter what type of cases I had on the court's docket," she said.
Eshom said she has since moved across the country, and she now has to fly back and forth to appear in court. She said she worked on cases involving child sex crimes.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said in a statement that it is "common practice" for detectives to return to testify after leaving the department.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And while the prosecutor’s office covered the cost of travel, Eshom said she doesn’t have the flexibility to travel to Washington on a whim.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"I still have more pending cases that I anticipate they’ll be needing me for," she said. "So either they’re going to order me to continue to appear, or they’re going to have to dismiss charges."