Chicago White Sox Sued For Mandating COVID-19 Vaccine, Causing Permanent Nervous System Disorder
Updated
A lawsuit has been brought against the Chicago White Sox for coercing a player into getting a COVID-19 vaccine that allegedly caused a permanent autonomic nervous system disorder. Peter Law Group is representing Isaiah Carranza in the case and describes a “two-tier justice” system in which minor league players were subjected to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate while major league players were not. Major league players had union protection, while the minor league players were allegedly coerced into getting the vaccine and didn’t have the financial security to speak up and risk losing their jobs.
“Major League Baseball and the Chicago White Sox imposed a mandatory medical procedure on a young pitcher, then turned their backs when that procedure destroyed his health and ended his career,” said John M. Liston, the plaintiff’s co-counsel in the case. “The ADA exists precisely to prevent powerful employers from sacrificing disabled workers to institutional convenience. This case is about accountability for a system that coerced compliance, denied the injury, and discriminated against an injured athlete instead of providing the accommodations and protection the law requires.”
The case reflects the criticisms people had during the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine when employers and institutions mandated the vaccine for employees. While there were no sweeping federal mandates on citizens, people complied with employer mandates because they did not feel financially stable enough to risk losing their jobs.
Carranza, who was drafted by the White Sox in 2018, alleges that team officials told him he would be blacklisted if he didn’t proceed with getting the two-dose regimen of the COVID-19 vaccine. This meant that Carranza would not be released from his contract to pursue opportunities with other teams, and his career would be stalled in the minor leagues with no opportunity to move up. Carranza experienced “extreme dizziness, nausea, near-fainting, and wildly fluctuating heart rate” shortly after receiving the Pfizer vaccine. His team dismissed these symptoms as being related to dehydration, anxiety, and rookie nerves.
Carranza’s attorneys estimate that his future medical expenses will exceed $557,000 and lost wages between $3.4 million and $19.9 million.
“This lawsuit addresses the legal and medical consequences of a workplace mandate that left Isaiah Carranza with no meaningful choice,” said Arnold Peter, counsel for Carranza and founder of Peter Law Group. “The complaint alleges that the Chicago White Sox imposed a COVID-19 vaccination requirement under circumstances that were coercive and that the mandate resulted in serious injury to a young employee who had previously been healthy and actively working in professional baseball.”
The HighWire reported about a paper published in 2024 by Dr. Stanley Plotkin, who is recognized as the “Godfather of Vaccines,” and the paper included admissions about the need for more adequate pre-licensure and post-authorization safety studies. Plotkin and co-authors wrote, “Postauthorization studies are needed to fully characterize the safety profile of a new vaccine since prelicensure clinical trials have limited sample sizes, follow-up durations, and population heterogeneity.”
While the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) exists as a warning system to detect potential safety problems in vaccines that have been licensed for use, it is not established as a method to prove causality. Attorney Aaron Siri explained during a 2025 Senate hearing that a statistical comparison was made when evaluating symptomatic cases between the experimental and control groups during the COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial, but researchers used a subjective assessment to compare deaths between the groups. Siri said, “Hence, a statistical comparison was conducted when the data supported the desired conclusion, but a subjective assessment when it didn’t.”
The lawsuit against the Chicago White Sox is an opportunity for a citizen who alleges he was harmed by a pharmaceutical product to obtain compensation outside the PREP Act Countermeasure Injury Compensation Program (CICP), which provides liability protections for the manufacturer. Carranza could file a CICP claim and seek compensation from the federal government, but the program has been slow and inefficient. Less than half of the 14,709 claims have received a determination, and only 133 claims out of 7,244 were deemed eligible for compensation.
Carranza’s attorneys will attempt to establish causation between the COVID-19 vaccine and his permanent nervous system disorder, while also attempting to establish that he was coerced by the team to get the inoculation that ultimately caused him to have a lifelong debilitating condition that ended his career.
“Establishing causation in civil litigation relies on well-recognized legal and scientific standards, including temporal proximity, clinical findings, and expert medical testimony,” Peter said. “This case is supported by medical evidence and expert analysis linking the vaccine to the injuries Isaiah experienced. As detailed in the complaint, after evaluating Isaiah’s medical history and clinical presentation, an expert physician concluded that Isaiah’s condition is consistent with a vaccine-related injury.”
Peter told The HighWire that they have represented other individuals in similar matters, including workplace mandates, employment rights, and medical injury claims. “While each case is fact-specific, the firm has seen a growing number of individuals who believe they suffered adverse consequences after being required to undergo medical procedures as a condition of employment,” Peter said.
