Just in time for the upcoming flu season, on September 23, 2016, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) sued St. Vincent Health Center, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), for what the EEOC alleged to be discriminatory discharges under a flu vaccine policy.
More specifically, the EEOC claimed that St. Vincent Health Center, although providing accommodations for medical reasons, did not provide reasonable accommodations for its employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs, as required by Title VII.
St. Vincent Health Center, which owns and operates St. Vincent Hospital in Erie, Pa, developed and implemented a seasonal flu vaccination policy for its St. Vincent Hospital employees. Under the policy, all hospital employees were required to get vaccinated, unless they were granted an exemption for medical or religious reasons. In order to receive a religious exemption, employees were required to provide certification from a religious authority, verifying that the employees’ religious practices forbade vaccinations. Employees who, without an exemption, refused to comply were terminated.
According to the EEOC, from October 2013 to January 2014, 11 employees requested and were denied a religious exemption, while 14 employees were granted an exemption based on medical reasons. The EEOC represented six of the 11 employees who were purportedly denied a religious exemption. As stated in the EEOC’s complaint, the six represented employees’ requests for religious exemptions were denied based on the employer’s requirement to provide certification from a religious authority. All six employees were allegedly terminated when they refused to comply with the flu vaccination policy for what the employees claim to be sincerely held religious beliefs.
At this point, the case is pending before the Western District Court of Pennsylvania, and St. Vincent Health Center has not filed an answer to present its side of the story. Nevertheless, there are a few key “takeaways” for business/HR leaders:
- Unlike the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), which allows employers to require, as a condition to accommodating non-obvious disabilities, certification from employees’ health care providers, Title VII does not allow employers to require, as a condition to accommodating religious beliefs, certification from employees’ religious authorities.
- Unless there is legitimate reason to doubt that employees hold a sincere religious belief, employers’ obligations to provide reasonable religious accommodation are triggered by employees’ representation that they hold sincere beliefs that require workplace accommodations.
- If there are factors present that undermine employees’ assertions that they hold a sincere belief, employers may conduct a limited inquiry into the facts and circumstances of the employees’ claims that their beliefs or practices are sincerely held.
If you have any questions about religious accommodations in the workplace, please contact an attorney with KingSpry’s employment practice group.
The Eastern Pennsylvania Employment Log (EPELog) is a publication of the KingSpry Employment Law Practice Group. Jeffrey T. Tucker, Esquire, is our editor-in-chief. EPELog is meant to be informational and does not constitute legal advice.
