Ascension Employees Cleared to Pursue Covid-19 Vaccine Bias Suit

A faith-based hospital system must defend a religious discrimination class action filed by employees who were fired for refusing to get Covid-19 vaccines after the system denied their exemption requests.

The class—which includes nurses, doctors, pharmacists, physical therapists, interpreters, and chaplains—plausibly alleged that Ascension Health Inc.'s vaccination mandate violated their sincere religious beliefs opposing the requirement, the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana said Wednesday.

Ascension is one of multiple health-care systems that required patient-facing employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19, setting up a conflict between patient safety measures and employee rights. The courts initially favored health-care ...