A federal appeals court Thursday denied a motion by nine healthcare workers to stay anonymous in their lawsuit against Governor Janet Mills and several others over their COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.

The ruling says that the plaintiffs and their lawyers have until Monday, July 11 to either comply with the order by having their identities unsealed or appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

A spokesperson for Liberty Counsel, which represents the healthcare workers, told WGAN Friday afternoon that they are still evaluating the situation.  The group is a conservative religious firm who are located in Florida.

The nine plaintiffs filed their complaint in federal court last August before the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers went into effect in late October.  The plaintiffs argued that it was their religious right to refuse the vaccine over their belief that fetal stem cells were used to develop the vaccines.  Maine’s mandate for healthcare workers does not allow for any religious exemptions.

The defendants in the suit were Governor Janet Mills, Jeanne Lambrew, commissioner for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, and Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as several health care agencies.

The lawsuit prompted several Maine newspapers to intervene in an effort to reveal the identities of the plaintiffs.  The Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel, and Sun Journal all filed a motion in November of last year challenging the plaintiff’s right to file the complain anonymously.  All four papers are owned by Maine Today Media.

On May 31, U.S District Court Judge Jon D. Levy ruled that the plaintiffs cannot remain anonymous and ordered them to file an amended complaint containing their names by June 7.  The plaintiffs then appealed the June 7 deadline and Levy, on June 17, gave the plaintiffs until July 8 to comply with the decision.

The date was later pushed back to July 11.