Mercyhealth, a health care system operating hospitals and clinics in Illinois and Wisconsin, agreed to pay more than $1 million in monetary relief to a class of employees and has offered to reinstate employees that it terminated for refusing to comply with the organization’s COVID-19 vaccine policy. The settlement follows an investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The agency’s investigation found reasonable cause to believe that Mercyhealth discriminated against employees based on their religion by denying them a religious accommodation and either terminating their employment or subjecting them to a wage deduction. The EEOC also found reasonable cause to believe that Mercyhealth discriminated against a class of similarly situated employees across all its facilities from September 2021 to May 2022 by denying them an opportunity to request a religious accommodation, opting instead either to terminate their employment or withhold money from their pay.
The agreement requires Mercyhealth to recirculate its policies, train human resources personnel and those who exercise decision-making authority on religious accommodation requests, and report to the EEOC about religious accommodation requests and decisions related to any system-wide vaccination program.
Source: EEOC
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