Mercyhealth has agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle complaints surrounding its treatment of employees who refused on religious grounds to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The healthcare system, which operates facilities in Illinois and Wisconsin, agreed to pay the monetary relief and will also offer to reinstate employees fired for not complying with their COVID-19 vaccine policy during the pandemic that began in 2020.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced the settlement last week, which came after the agency found “reasonable cause to believe” Mercyhealth discriminated against employees by rejecting any religious exemptions to the vaccine.
The EEOC believed that Mercyhealth’s actions constituted a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on religion in the workplace.
EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas said that the settlement is “an example of what our agency can accomplish when we work with employers to ensure that the doors of our workplaces are equally open to religious employees.”
“I am proud of the monetary relief that we have obtained here, and I am equally proud that these employees — who remained committed to their religious beliefs and practice at great personal cost — will receive job offers,” said Lucas.
Many Mercyhealth employees were represented by the Liberty Counsel, a conservative Christian law firm based in Orlando, Florida, that challenged multiple COVID-19 vaccine mandates over concerns that they failed to consider religious objections properly.
“This hospital system did not live up to its name and instead was merciless to its faithful and dedicated workers,” said Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver in a statement.
“This class-wide settlement is rightly deserved for these health care employees who were unlawfully discriminated against and denied religious exemptions from the experimental COVID shot.”
Kara Sankey, vice president of Clinical Operations and Chief Nursing Officer for Mercyhealth, said in a statement quoted by the Illinois-based WIFR that her company “respects the religious beliefs and practices of its employees.”
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mercyhealth had to confront and address extraordinary challenges in order to carry out its charitable health care mission, while doing its best to protect the health and safety of its patients and its employees and comply with federal rules requiring all hospital staff receive vaccinations,” Sankey stated.
“The balancing of these critical goals could not be achieved without the dedication of our doctors and staff in times of significant personal risk, and Mercyhealth appreciates the work and assistance of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in resolving these remaining disputes.”
