Ascension to Pay Back Wages to Fired Employees Who Refused the COVID Vaccine

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Ascension Michigan has agreed to provide up to five weeks of back pay to employees who were terminated or placed on indefinite leave after being denied religious exemptions from the health system's COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

The agreement comes after a prolonged legal battle in which workers claimed they were unjustly dismissed for refusing the vaccine on religious grounds. The lawsuit, filed in 2022, accused the St. Louis-based healthcare provider of infringing on employees' religious rights by not granting accommodation requests related to the vaccine mandate.

This settlement resolves a case that stemmed from the broader controversy over vaccine mandates in the healthcare industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many hospitals and healthcare employers supported vaccine requirements, arguing they were necessary to curb transmission, others, including some healthcare workers, resisted the mandates. Opponents argued that the limited exemptions ignored broader civil rights protections, including those under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act.

The federal government initially mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for all healthcare workers receiving federal funding in 2021. This policy was largely supported by hospital systems during the pandemic’s peak, as the Delta variant overwhelmed hospital capacity. However, the mandate faced opposition from lawmakers, particularly in states with Republican leadership, who criticized the policy as an overreach.

Although legal challenges delayed the nationwide implementation of vaccine requirements, many health systems, including Ascension, chose to implement their own mandates. In July 2021, Ascension informed employees they had until November of that year to get vaccinated. Over 4,500 employees requested religious exemptions, but most were denied. As a result, approximately 3% of Ascension's workforce—around 3,000 individuals—were either terminated or placed on unpaid leave.

In some states, like Alabama, Florida, and Texas, legal protections prevented employers from taking such disciplinary actions against unvaccinated workers. Additionally, in November 2021, the Oklahoma attorney general filed a lawsuit to block Ascension from firing employees who sought religious accommodations.

The settlement, which provides up to five weeks of back pay, is the latest in a series of court decisions where workers have successfully challenged vaccine mandates by invoking federal civil rights protections. Earlier this year, a jury awarded a former Blue Cross Blue Shield employee $680,000 after determining she was wrongfully terminated for refusing the vaccine.

The exact total amount of back pay to be distributed to Ascension employees has not been disclosed.