RALEIGH — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission settled a federal lawsuit against Rex Healthcare that involved alleged COVID-era religious discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, centered on claims that Rex unlawfully denied a religious exemption from its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy to a remote employee and subsequently terminated her employment.
“Even when faced with unique challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, employers must comply with federal civil rights law,” Melinda Dugas, regional attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Office’s Charlotte District, said in a press release. “The EEOC will continue to take action when an employee’s right to religious freedom has been unnecessarily restricted.”
The complaint described by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) does not name the case, however, court records show the complaint involved Heather Goeller, a senior revenue cycle representative in a nonpatient-facing role who had worked remotely since March 2020.
Goeller, who identifies as Christian, held a “sincerely held religious belief” that vaccines conflicted with her faith, viewing her body as a temple created in God’s image. She had previously received religious exemptions from Rex’s flu vaccine requirement in 2019 and 2020.
However, Rex denied her four requests for a COVID-19 vaccine exemption in 2021 despite supporting documentation and terminated her on Nov. 3, 2021, for noncompliance.
The EEOC argued this constituted a failure to provide reasonable accommodation absent undue hardship and resulted in discriminatory termination, seeking back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, and an injunction against future violations.
Under the terms of the consent decree, entered by the court to resolve the suit without admission of liability by Rex, the company agreed to pay Goeller $150,000 within 30 days, including $85,643 in back wages and the remainder as compensatory damages.
The two-year consent decree also enjoins Rex from religious discrimination or failing to accommodate sincere religious beliefs in employment practices, absent undue hardship.
Rex must also adopt and implement a new policy for handling religious accommodation requests, provide training on Title VII requirements to human resources staff, employee relations personnel, managers and supervisors involved in reviewing such requests, and report compliance to the EEOC. The court retains authority to enforce the decree, which binds Rex and its successors.
Alan M. Wolf, director of media relations for UNC Health/UNC School of Medicine, responded on behalf of UNC Health Rex, stating, “UNC Health Rex fully complies with federal law related to religious accommodations.”
“As with many hospitals and health systems across the country, we had to make difficult decisions during the worst of the pandemic in the interest of protecting our patients and teammates,” Wolf said. “Although we dispute the allegations in the lawsuit, we are happy to resolve this matter and move forward. UNC Health Rex has a robust process for reviewing exemption requests and strives to provide a supportive environment for all of our more than 6,500 teammates.”
Several pandemic-era lawsuits are still making their way through North Carolina’s court system. Cases in the state have involved disparate treatment of bars during COVID-19 closures under former Gov. Roy Cooper’s tenure, vaccination of a teen without parental consent, and breach of contract issues with UNC System schools over fees and tuition.
