Mayo Clinic Agrees to $50,000 Settlement in COVID Vaccine Lawsuit

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission today announced a settlement in a religious accommodation lawsuit against Mayo Clinic.

Employee to Receive $50,000 Under Settlement

The statement says the Rochester-based health care provider has agreed to pay $50,000 to an employee who was denied a religious exemption to Mayo Clinic's mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy during the pandemic. According to the EEOC, the security guard submitted to receiving the vaccination to avoid being fired, despite his objections.

COVID vaccine — (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)

Security Guard Sought Religious Vaccine Exemption

A lawsuit later filed by the EEOC claimed Mayo Clinic "unlawfully denied" the employee's request to be exempted from the policy as a religious accommodation. The EEOC says the security guard, who worked in a nonmedical role, opposed taking the vaccine because of his religious faith.

The news release says Mayo Clinic denied his request for an exemption because it did not believe his religious beliefs were sincere.

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EEOC Challenged Mayo Clinic's Accommodation Decision

“Even when faced with unique challenges like the pandemic, employers must comply with federal civil rights laws,” said Christopher Lage, EEOC deputy general counsel. “An employer should ordinarily assume that an employee’s request for religious accommodation is based on a sincerely held religious belief, unless it has an objective basis for further inquiry. Employers should provide accommodations for all aspects of religious observances or practices unless doing so would result in an undue hardship.”

Annual Training Required for Human Resources Employees

The EEOC statement says that, in addition to the monetary damages to the employee, Mayo Clinic has also agreed to a two-year consent decree that prohibits it from "failing to provide religious accommodations to his vaccination requirements absent undue hardship and from retaliating against employees who request such accommodations in the future." Mayo must also adopt policies addressing requests for religious accommodations and provide annual training to human resources employees on the topic.

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