The federal government is suing one of the largest health systems in Wisconsin, claiming that it discriminated against an employee by denying a nurse’s request for a religious exemption for receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against Advocate Aurora Health last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The Illinois-based health system has more than 500 locations throughout eastern Wisconsin and the greater Chicago area.
The government claims Advocate Aurora violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it did not give a nurse a religious exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine and allegedly fired her for failing to receive the vaccine in 2021. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, says it tried to reach a settlement with the health care provider before filing suit.
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“Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees’ religious beliefs in the workplace,” Catherine Eschbach, acting EEOC general counsel, said in a statement. “An employer must provide accommodations of employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs and practices, provided it can do so without undue hardship to the employer’s business.”
But Advocate Aurora maintains that its pandemic response was lawful. In a statement, a spokesperson for Advocate Aurora said the health system is confident that its pandemic response was “consistent with all applicable laws and regulations.”
“It is also important to note that the allegations in this complaint stem from 2021 policies in place during the height of the pandemic that have since changed with the evolving times,” the statement reads. “Out of respect for the legal process, we do not have any further comment at this time.”
More than 10,000 Wisconsin residents had died of COVID-19 by the end of 2021. It was the fourth leading cause of death in the state at that time.
Other major health systems in Wisconsin — including Marshfield Clinic Health System, UW Health and Prevea Health — also required employees receive COVID vaccines. The health systems said those requirements were meant to help protect both staff and patients.
According to the lawsuit, Advocate Aurora instituted a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy in August 2021 that required health care employees to receive the vaccine by the end of that October.
The policy allowed for exemptions based on religion or health reasons, and employees who did not request an exemption or had their request denied would be terminated, the suit says.
Employees were required to request an exemption, and then that request would be reviewed by a committee of employees, the suit states. Those seeking a religious accommodation needed to submit documentation outlining their objections to the vaccine, and denied religious exemption requests could be appealed, according to court documents.
Aurora also had a mandatory flu vaccine policy, requiring employees to be vaccinated at the time they were hired, which also allowed for religious or medical exemptions.
The nurse requested and received religious exemptions for the flu vaccine in 2014 and 2015, and received a lifetime exemption in 2016, the suit states.
In August 2021, she requested a religious exemption to the COVID vaccine policy, court documents said. The request was allegedly denied the following month.
The nurse appealed the denial shortly after, but the appeal was denied, according to the suit. In October 2021, Advocate Aurora terminated her employment.
The suit argues that the health system’s handling of the situation denied her “equal employment opportunities,” describing Advocate Aurora’s employment practices as intentional and “done with malice or with reckless indifference to the federally protected rights.”
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is asking the court to require Advocate Aurora to change its policies and practices to “provide equal employment opportunities regardless of religion” and to order the health system to stop any policies that violate the Civil Rights Act. The commission is also seeking punitive damages to punish Aurora.
In addition, the agency wants the employee who brought the complaint to receive back pay and to get their job back if appropriate, as well as receive compensation for financial losses and emotional damages.
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