The lawyer representing plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed earlier this month against Atlas Air said he plans to file similar lawsuits against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and 18 major airlines over their COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

California attorney John Pierce alleges the mandates "imposed by these agencies on the airlines' employees infringed on their constitutional, religious, and medical liberties," The Epoch Times reported.

Pierce filed the first lawsuit on behalf of the Atlas Air employees and U.S. Freedom Flyers (USFF), an advocacy group opposing airline vaccine and mask mandates.

Atlas Air is one of the largest air cargo carriers in the aviation industry and the world's largest operator of Boeing 747 aircraft.

The lawsuit was filed May 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida with the participation of more than 100 plaintiffs, most of whom are unvaccinated pilots and flight attendants.

According to the lawsuit:

"Fundamentally, this case is about whether Americans should be required to choose between their livelihoods and being coerced into taking an experimental, dangerous medical treatment.

"It is also about the safety of America's airline industry. Should pilots — under federal regulation required to be among the healthiest workers in the United States — who have taken an experimental 'vaccine' that is now shown to have potentially deadly, long-term side effects, be allowed to fly massive aircraft in our skies? While those who have (smartly) refrained from such a course be forced out of their jobs?"