The Northern District of California ruled on seven motions in limine ahead of trial in Maria Ramirez, et al. v. Santa Clara County. The employees objected to COVID-19 vaccines on religious grounds and were granted exemptions but placed on administrative leave rather than allowed to continue in-person work in high-risk job settings.
The court granted plaintiffs' motion to exclude Davis's tax returns for 2022-2024, ruling that while his financial status is relevant to his emotional distress claims based on financial hardship, the tax returns carry substantial risk of prejudice. The judge noted that Davis's "tax strategy is unusual and might be controversial to jurors" and could distract from the relevant issue of his net spendable income after taxes.
However, the court denied plaintiffs' motion to exclude testimony from the county's damages expert Karl Erik Volk, an economics expert who will analyze thousands of pages of financial records. The judge ruled that Volk's evaluation of plaintiffs' economic circumstances falls within his expertise and will help rebut plaintiffs' claims that financial instability caused emotional distress.
The county had issued its vaccine policy on August 5, 2021, requiring all employees to receive COVID-19 vaccines by September 30, 2021, with exemptions for sincerely held religious beliefs. The county rescinded the vaccination requirement on September 27, 2022.
The court issued oral rulings on all seven motions in limine at a Final Pretrial Conference on April 9, 2026.