A hospital in Michigan has agreed to pay $50,000 in damages to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
According to Liberty Counsel, a non-profit legal group, the EEOC filed a lawsuit last April on behalf of a job applicant for Trinity Health Grand Rapids, formerly known as Mercy Health St. Mary’s, who alleged the hospital denied his request for a religious exemption to the flu shot.
The hospital’s former policy allowed for religious exemptions for the shot, which was required annually, but then the hospital determined the applicant’s “articulated religious beliefs were ‘insufficient'” to grant the exemption and denied it without an explanation.
Trinity Health made a conditional job offer to the applicant but rescinded the offer after denying the exemption and did not allow the applicant to address the concerns with his request.
The EEOC lawsuit alleges that the hospital violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and committed religious discrimination by “arbitrarily” denying the exemption with “reckless indifference” to the applicant’s protected rights.
Title VII requires employers to make “reasonable” accommodations for religious employees unless the accommodation presents an “undue hardship” on the employer.
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