A Texas lawyer who was fired after attending the January 6 Capitol protests is now teaching classes on how to avoid COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates in the workplace.
In a Facebook post on August 29, lawyer Paul M. Davis shared portions of a presentation from his "mask/vaxx exemption class."
"One of my biggest pet peeves is when patriots invoke "the Constitution" for everything when they have no idea what it actually says. There is no provision in the U.S. Constitution that prohibits a private employer from adopting mask or vaxx mandates. Period. It's not in there," Davis said in the post.
In 2021, Davis was fired from the Goosehead Insurance company after he was seen in a video taken at the protests at the Capitol on January 6 over the 2020 presidential election results. On January 7, 2021, Law&Crime reported that Davis was not charged with rioting or any other crimes related to January 6. "I did not enter the interior of the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021. In fact, I have never in my life set foot inside the U.S. Capitol building," Davis wrote in a court document provided to the Disciplinary Committee of the Western District of Texas.
In a description for the class, Davis states that as a former human resources director and employment lawyer he can teach people "how to phrase and support your requests for religious accommodations in the workplace that make it virtually impossible for your employer to legally deny."
"Sign up for this class and you will learn everything you need to know and get templates and coaching for how to get religious accommodations for COVID restrictions in the workplace. This course is for workplace mandates only. The law is different for school mandates," the class description says.
Over the past few weeks, the possible return of mask mandates has been a hot topic of discussion, with many expressing opposition. Several Republican-led states, such as Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah, have already issued statements or passed legislation banning the return of mask mandates.
However, some hospitals have introduced mask mandates again for visitors, patients and staff members as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an 8.7 percent increase in COVID-19 related hospitalizations from August 27 to September 2.
"I support freedom. And if persecuted for that. I would be willing to die," Davis told Law&Crime in 2021 following his firing.
While speaking with Business Insider in February 2022, Davis spoke about his life experiences following January 6, such as losing his job and his loss of friends and his fiancé.
"Everything that I'd worked hard for [for] 10 years evaporated overnight," Davis said. "In my mind, I didn't do anything wrong...I didn't cross any boundaries. I didn't assault anybody, but I know that doesn't matter a lot of times."
Newsweek reached out to Davis via email for comment.
Update, 9/15/23, 6:50 a.m. ET. This story was updated to clarify that Newsweek reached out to Davis via email for comment.
Correction, 9/18/23, 8:06 a.m. ET: The headline on this article was updated to replace the word "Rioter" with "Protester." While Paul M. Davis attended the Capitol protests, he did not enter the building and was not charged with any crime, and the article was also updated to reflect this.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
