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What happened to Washington Ferries? Washington State Ferries lost more than 100 workers after they refused Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and the Attorney General’s Office defended that mandate in court. In August 2021, Inslee issued Proclamation 21-14. It required most executive-branch state employees, including ferry crews, to be fully vaccinated by October 18, 2021, or leave state employment. Workers could request a medical or religious exemption, but an exemption kept them on the job only if the agency could accommodate the role. The order did not allow regular testing in place of vaccination. Office of Financial Management figures released just after the deadline showed the Washington State Department of Transportation accounted for roughly 400 separations. Washington State Ferries, part of WSDOT, lost about 132 employees: 121 fired for noncompliance and the rest retirements. Contemporary reports from The Seattle Times, MyNorthwest, and the Islands’ Sounder all placed the ferry firings above 100. Ferry officials cut sailings as the losses hit an already thin crew. The Attorney General’s Office, Bob Ferguson, was the state’s counsel. On October 15, 2021, then-Attorney General Bob Ferguson said his legal team had appeared in federal court that morning to defend the governor’s mandate and had won. Ferry workers were among the plaintiffs in at least one early challenge, filed in Walla Walla County with State Patrol and corrections employees. The AGO also applied its own vaccination policy to its staff. Former employees later sued over denied religious accommodations; those cases, including Hanson v. Ferguson, continued in federal court after Ferguson became governor. Inslee rescinded the state-employee vaccine requirement in May 2023. Separated workers were eligible to reapply and compete for openings. They were not automatically reinstated.