In a significant win for religious freedom and a major setback for Covid poke cops, a U.S. appeals court has resurrected a lawsuit charging the Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic with discriminating against workers who resisted strict Covid-19 vaccine mandates on religious grounds.
The court’s ruling opens the door for scores of employees to seek damages for Mayo’s alleged abuse of equal employment laws, and it comes thanks in part to a federal agency in a vax-happy Biden administration that has pushed Covid shot mandates in the workplace.
Officials with the health system told the National Desk that Mayo Clinic will “vigorously” defend itself.
‘Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs’
On Friday, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which had asked the court to revisit the claims of former employees of the renowned clinic. Shelly Kiel and Kenneth Ringhofer were among five medical staff members who filed the lawsuit after being fired in 2022. They claim the hospital’s requirement forcing employees to either get the jab or undergo routine Covid testing violated their religious rights and the sanctity of their bodies.
“Plaintiffs identify as Christians and allege they refused the vaccine based on their sincerely held religious beliefs,” the lawsuit states.
The complaint alleges the health care provider, like many others mandating the vaccine, violated the employees’ rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Minnesota’s anti-discrimination law. Both are supposed to protect employees and job applicants from being discriminated against based on
