Many years ago, especially in blue states there was a rash of COVID vaccine mandates by different companies. To their employees they basically said, “Get the vaccine, or else!” At that point many employees said ‘no,’ based on religious reasons. A lot of these individuals kowtowed to their employer and begrudgingly got the vaccine, while others held fast to their religious beliefs, and many were fired for disobeying the vaccine mandate. Some of those that were forcibly fired subsequently sued their employers because their religious beliefs were disregarded.
And now years later groups of these employees who sued are receiving justification.
From Epoch Health:
A group of health care workers who sued their hospital over a COVID-19 vaccine mandate are slated to receive $10 million, according to a settlement agreement filed on July 29.
About a dozen workers at the NorthShore University HealthSystem in Illinois lodged the suit in October 2021, arguing that the facility was illegally not granting religious exemptions to the mandate.
After eight months of negotiations, the workers and NorthShore “have agreed to settle this case,” according to a memorandum filed in federal court.
Under the settlement’s terms, NorthShore will pay $10,337,500 into a settlement fund for workers affected by its mandate—specifically, workers who, between July 1, 2021, and Jan. 1, 2022, asked for a religious accommodation and were denied, and either received a vaccine to avoid termination, or were fired or resigned from their employment. About 473 workers fit under that category.
Each worker who eventually got a vaccine despite raising religious objections would be eligible for about $3,000, while those who were fired or resigned from their position could receive about $25,000, according to estimates.”
Well I guess that showed those stubborn employers … over $10 million!
But reminiscent of a 1974 song by BTO (Bachman–Turner Overdrive), “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet!”
From the Epoch Times:
“Rail transit officials in California’s Bay Area have been ordered to pay more than $7 million to transit workers who were fired because they refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine years ago. On Oct. 23, a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California sided with six former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) workers who had refused to get the vaccine for religious purposes.
BART was ordered to pay the group more than $7.8 million, with each individual receiving between $1.2 million and $1.5 million, the Pacific Justice Institute, which represented the transit workers in the trial, said in a statement on Oct. 24.”
Although I really do not know for sure, I suspect that there are more similar COVID vaccine mandates vs. denied religious exemptions cases in the legal pipeline, and if there are not at this time, there will be many more.
The October awards in California have set the bar quite high – much higher than the July bar set in Illinois, and I predict …
You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet!
10/28/24