A federal judge accepted a $10 million class action settlement for employees of an Illinois healthcare organization whose requests for religious exemptions from the COVID vaccine were denied.
According to Liberty Counsel, Judge John Kness approved on Monday, with the final ruling coming out the following week.
“After many months and long hours, we are pleased to finally get the court’s final approval of this classwide settlement for these health care workers who were unlawfully discriminated against and denied religious exemptions from the COVID shot mandate,” Liberty Counsel Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief Litigation Counsel Harry Mihet, whose organization represented the health care workers, said in a statement.
Christmas came early for our NorthShore plaintiffs! Today, the court granted FINAL APPROVAL in the $10.3 MILLION CLASS-ACTION SETTLEMENT for health care workers who were discriminated against and denied religious exemptions from the COVID shot mandate.
— Liberty Counsel (@libertycounsel) December 19, 2022
“This case should set a precedent for other employers who have violated the law by denying religious exemptions for their employees,” he added.
In the case of Jane Doe 1, et al. v. Northshore University Healthsystem, a first-of-its-kind class action settlement was reached against a private employer after the healthcare system turned down many requests for COVID vaccine exemptions based on religious grounds. In order to make amends for the affected healthcare workers who were turned down for exemptions, NorthShore will pay $10,337,500.
Depending on how certain employees were treated, the settlement involves a variety of solutions. According to the deal, those who were fired or resigned due to their religious objections to the COVID vaccine would get settlement checks worth around $24,000 each.
Employees who are required to comply with a COVID vaccination against their religious convictions in order to preserve their jobs will get about $3,700 each.
Staff members who were fired due to their religious opposition will also be qualified for rehire if they submit an application within 90 days of the court-approved final settlement and will keep their former seniority level. According to Liberty Counsel, NorthShore has already rehired many of the people who had been fired and will continue to do so.
The healthcare provider must modify its policy on religious accommodations in accordance with the settlement in order to provide legitimate religious accommodations at all of its sites.
The complaint and a request for a temporary restraining order against the Illinois-based business were submitted in October 2021. The goal was to prevent the healthcare provider from terminating staff members who had asked for a policy of religious tolerance for the COVID vaccine, which was initially slated to go into effect on November 1st, 2021.
According to Liberty Counsel, NorthShore initially approved exemptions for some employees before rejecting them in the middle of September 2021. After rejecting these employees, NorthShore also amended their exemption form to state that any objections on the basis of “aborted fetal cell lines, stem cells, tissue or derivative materials will result in denials” for any religious grounds.
The state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act was the subject of the lawsuit. Employees cannot be forced “to receive, obtain, accept or engage in any manner in any particular form of health care services contrary to his or her conscience,” according to the policy.
In a 27-page ruling in November 2021, Judge Kness determined that discriminated-against NorthShore employees would be entitled to monetary compensation. The complaint was first approved in the settlement on Monday after being launched as a class action lawsuit.
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