In 2013 and 2014, Saint Vincent Hospital began firing any staff who refused a flu shot. The refusals were grounded in religious beliefs which prevented the staff from accepting the shots. Following the firings, a religious discrimination lawsuit was filed.
Today, the fruits of that labor are being paid out to those who suffered job losses.
The Erie hospital also will provide about $300,000 in back pay and compensatory damages to the employees as part of an agreement to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of the workers by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in September. A consent decree that ended the case and detailed the settlement terms was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Erie.
The commission had claimed Saint Vincent violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it fired the six workers, who refused to be vaccinated after the hospital implemented a mandatory flu vaccination policy for all employees. The hospital granted medical exemptions to 14 other workers.“The consent decree filed this week between the EEOC and Saint Vincent Hospital does not constitute any admission of violations by Saint Vincent or a finding on the merits of the case,” Dan Laurent, a spokesman for Allegheny Health Network, Saint Vincent’s parent organization, said in an email. “Although we have vigorously and respectfully disagreed with the EEOC’s position and characterization of how employee claims outlined in this lawsuit were handled by the hospital, we have reached a resolution of the matter in the interest of avoiding the expense, delay and burden of further litigation on all parties.”
This is a wonderful step in the right direction. Many American workers are bullied, intimidated and forced into vaccinations such as flu shots. Declining the shots risk their livelihood. With a new Trump administration just days away, many believe laws may ease up, which could have an easing up effect amongst the American working culture. But only time will tell. At least these hospital workers received some compensation. Additionally, they get rehired.
I lost my job, also. I did not get my exemption form signed by a physician or clergy, as they advised me to. Actually, at the time, I didn’t know of anyone, who I thought would sign it. I wished I had let them fire me, but I didn’t want that on my record. I chose to resign, instead. I tried to collect unemployment, after that, but they fought me tooth and nail. Since then, I’ve been a travel nurse, going to hospitals that would accept a declination. It has been more and more difficult to find those. I have been unemployed since Oct. 1st, due to the mandated flu vaccine. I need another profession, also.
So sorry to hear this, Gwen. If you are in Ohio, please be in contact with http://www.OhioAMF.org – Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom. We are working to pass a law in Ohio that prohibits an employer from firing someone who refuses a flu shot. Check out this article: https://www.statnews.com/2017/01/27/flu-vaccine-health-care-workers/