Two Towson students and a University of Maryland law school employee are suing over the university system’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which requires all students and staff returning to campus this fall to be vaccinated.

The plaintiffs claim the mandate subjects those who are unvaccinated to different rules and therefore discriminates against them. In addition to requiring everyone to wear a mask indoors on campus, those who remain unvaccinated are also required to submit paperwork requesting a medical or religious exemption, and must submit to twice weekly COVID testing. The plaintiffs are requesting that the courts declare the university system’s mandate to be unconstitutional.

“The students and employees who are not vaccinated are experiencing segregation, and they’re being treated differently from the vaccinated students,” Jennifer Lester, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told DCist/WAMU.

The lawsuit, filed last week, also questions the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. The lawsuit says the university system cannot mandate vaccinations still under emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration, and states the safety of the vaccine is “questionable.” When the mandate was instituted in April, none of the three available vaccines–Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson– had full FDA approval. The FDA did give full approval to the Pfizer vaccine in August. The lawsuit also states the mandate violates the constitutional right to due process, including the right to make medical decisions or refuse medical treatment

This lawsuit is one of several filed against public university systems since August challenging vaccine mandates.

The lawsuit alleges the student plaintiffs “felt coerced” into submitting exemptions in order to attend class. In addition, the lawsuit states the mandate violates an individuals right to make medical decisions. Two of the student plaintiffs were granted religious exemptions, while the employee also requested a reasonable accommodation to work without a face mask. Until that accommodation is approved, the lawsuit says the employee is required to take “paid leave time and not permitted to work remotely or be present on the campus.”

The lawsuit also cites inconsistent communication and protocols across the system’s 12 institutions, noting students “received different information at different times regarding the vaccine mandate, as well as different requirements or protocols that they must follow as USM classifies these individuals as ‘unvaccinated.’”

The Coalition for Future Maryland is a local grassroots advocacy organization which formed to oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates at Maryland universities. The group supports the plaintiffs, and states on their Website that they are fighting to “stop discriminatory policies against students and employees who choose to not receive the vaccine for medical, religious, or other reasons.”

Lester argued that it’s incumbent upon the state’s health department to issue the vaccine mandate, not the university system, but some elected officials disagree.

“It’s not the state health department’s primary job to decide who comes into every workplace, who comes into every school building,” State Sen. Jim Rosapepe, who represents parts of Prince George’s county, told DCist/WAMU. Rosapepe is a staunch advocate for school vaccine mandates and member of the Maryland senate’s COVID-19 oversight committee. “It is the responsibility of the university to decide who comes into university buildings,” he said.

A spokesperson for the university system said in an email it’s their policy not to comment on pending litigation.

The mandate was issued in April, when the university system’s board of regents gave Chancellor Jay Perman the authority to create a COVID-19 vaccination policy. At the time, the Maryland attorney general’s office provided a legal opinion to back up the board’s decision.

Sandra Benson Bradley, with the attorney general’s office, wrote, “if [University System of Maryland] has sufficient evidence that mandatory vaccinations are reasonably required to protect the public health and safety, USM could legally mandate vaccinations. USM would likely have to provide reasonable accommodations for medical conditions or religious objections.”

Bradley also outlined several instances of courts upholding mandatory vaccinations and stated that “USM’s decision to mandate is reasonable and necessary to control COVID-19 and prevent campus outbreaks.”

As of last week, Towson University reported that 100% of their staff and 99% of their students are compliant with the mandate, either having submitted proof of vaccination or eligibility for an exemption, according to university data. Between Sept. 2 and Sept. 15, the university has had 40 positive COVID cases out of 2,812 tests, according to the university.

As of Monday, the University of Maryland College Park has a 98% fully vaccinated rate for all students and staff on campus. Since the first day of classes on Aug. 30, the campus has had more than 140 positive COVID cases out of more than 7,500 tests, according to university data.