The attorney of Nick Rolovich, former Washington State Cougars football coach, said on Wednesday that they plan to take legal action against the team for ‘unlawful and an attack on his Catholic faith’. Rolovich and four of his assistants was fired on Monday for failing to comply with the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The attorney said Rolovich was escorted by campus police to his car and not allowed to speak to the team or visit his office after his dismissal.

Rolovich had requested a religious exemption but it was denied Monday, the state’s vaccination deadline.

Also Read: NCAA: Head coach Ed Orgeron to leave LSU Tigers after current season

“The institution also indicated that even if the exemption had been granted, no accommodation would have been made,” attorney Brian Fahling said in the statement.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s proclamation required full vaccinations by this past Monday for most state employees.

The statement didn’t specify Rolovich’s religious grounds for seeking an exemption and the coach himself had declined to discuss details in recent weeks.

Pope Francis and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops have stated that all COVID-19 vaccines are morally acceptable and that Catholics have a duty, responsibility or obligation to be vaccinated. However, some Catholics still oppose vaccination.

Also Read: NCAA: Hall, Purdy lead Iowa State past Kansas State

Statewide, about 1,800 workers have been fired, resigned or retired because of the governor’s mandate, state officials said. Rolovich was the highest-paid state employee in Washington at $3.2 million per year. He was fired for cause and will not be paid the balance of his contract.

Rolovich was hired from Hawaii two years ago, after Mike Leach left for Mississippi State, and led Washington State to a 1-3 record in the Pac-12 in a 2020 season cut short because of the pandemic. He finished with a 5-6 record in Pullman.

He was replaced for the remainder of the season by Jake Dickert, the Cougars’ defensive coordinator who was elevated to acting head coach.

With inputs from the Associated Press