Tyson Settles Suit Over Covid-19 Vaccine Refusal, Unpaid Leave

A Baptist meatpacker at a Tyson Foods Inc. pork processing plant who filed a religious objection to its Covid-19 vaccine mandate has settled her Title VII lawsuit with the company.

Redina Hayslett was placed on unpaid leave for almost a year after requesting a religious accommodation at the Newbern, Tenn., plant. Judge S. Thomas Anderson of the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee ruled that Hayslett’s Title VII failure-to-accommodate and Tennessee statutory claim could advance to a trial after partially denying Tyson summary judgment. A jury could find the unpaid leave “was a material adverse action,” he ...