The EEOC announced that it reached a $74,418 settlement with a hospital in Owosso, Michigan, to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit the agency had filed under Title VII against the hospital in U.S. District Court for...more
Recent actions by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) emphasize employers’ obligations under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to accommodate workers’ religious objections to receiving a flu vaccination. ...more
Hospital Demanded Employee Take Flu Shot Despite His Religious Beliefs, Federal Agency Charged - NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Saint Thomas Health (STH), operating Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro, Tenn., will pay...more
The annual flu season is upon us, and once again, employers with mandatory flu vaccine programs are wrestling with the prospect of complex employment litigation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”)...more
This is not the first time you’ve heard from us about flu shots in the workplace. And here we are again. Each flu season, employers find themselves in the hot seat when well-intentioned attempts to implement a policy...more
Dear Littler: I work in a health care setting in New Jersey. As flu season is approaching, we emailed all of our patient care employees (nurses, physical therapists, intake staff, etc.) to remind them that an immunization is...more
As we have just survived one of the worst flu seasons in recent memory, now is a good time to consider whether you should implement or revise a mandatory flu shot policy for 2018. The Center for Disease Control and...more
Many healthcare providers in North Carolina have instituted policies requiring their employees who have patient contact to receive the flu vaccine each year. Such policies will typically include a process by which an employee...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on behalf of a nursing home employee alleging she was forced to receive a flu shot to keep her job when she could not provide a note from a clergy member in support...more
Are you in the know? Yeah, I'm sorry. I should have an in-depth, incisive legal analysis of the Sixth Circuit panel decision in EEOC v. R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. That was my plan, and I promise that I will --...more
According to the Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”), the United States experiences a flu season each year. With this year’s flu season considered one of the worst since the 2009-2010 pandemic, many employers wish to...more
After rescinding a job offer to an applicant, a Michigan healthcare provider finds itself in federal court defending a religious accommodation claim. If your organization requires employees to get flu vaccines, your policy...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Mandatory vaccines and flu shots present challenges to employers attempting to accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of employees. In this case, a hospital worker claimed that he was terminated...more
The last months of the year are marked by holidays, family, snow days -- and influenza, commonly known as the flu. For the 2017-2018 flu season, the Center for Disease Control ("CDC") recommends adults receive an injectable...more
Frustrated with the high number of employees that did not show up for work in the fall and winter last year, Jim Duncey, the owner of Duncey’s Caps, Inc., issues a memo to all employees that they must provide proof that they...more
After a measles outbreak at Disneyland spread to 134 Californians and residents in six other states and two other countries, California adopted a law removing “personal belief” exemptions from vaccinating children in public...more
If you require your employees to get a flu shot, what do you do with the ones who refuse on religious grounds? As with so much in employment law, it depends. In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Mission Hospital, a...more
You are an HR generalist at a 300-bed community hospital. Your boss has instructed you to make sure that all personnel files document that the employee received the hospital’s annual mandatory flu vaccination. However, you...more
It’s flu season and many employers, particularly those in healthcare, want to require employees to be vaccinated to minimize the spread of illness. But what happens when an employee refuses on religious grounds?...more
Following up on a post from last week on the issue of mandatory flu vaccine policies, the EEOC seems to be on a march to challenge any employer – particularly hospitals – that denies an employee a requested exemption from a...more
Fall is in the air – when the air becomes crisp, our thoughts turn to Halloween, turkey and — thanks to constant reminders — and our annual flu vaccine. Many health care facilities have implemented policies which...more
October signals the beginning of flu season. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), flu activity in the United States can begin as early as October and continue to occur as late as May, most...more
Given the severity of the influenza outbreak this season, employers are dealing with worse than normal staffing and leave issues. One solution, aimed at cutting down on employee absences during flu season, is to require all...more