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First settlement reached for health-care workers in lawsuit filed over COVID-19 vaccine mandate | Illinois
(The Center Square) – The first settlement in the U.S. has been reached in a class action lawsuit filed by health care workers over a university system’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Chicago-based NorthShore University HealthSystem has agreed to pay more than 500 current and former health-care workers a total of $10,337,500 as part of the terms of the settlement. It’s also changing its policy to accommodate religious exemption requests and rehiring former employees who were fired or forced to resign whose exemption requests were denied. Represented by the nonprofit religious freedom organization Liberty Counsel, NorthShore employees sued, alleging they were discriminated against because they were denied religious exemptions from the company’s…
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Health care workers who sued state over vaccine mandate reveal names in court
Seven of the nine health care workers who sued Gov. Janet Mills and others over the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health workers revealed their names in federal court on Monday. The health care workers originally filed their lawsuit anonymously, citing fears for their safety. The lawsuit prompted several Maine newspapers to intervene in an effort to force the plaintiffs to be identified. The Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel and Sun Journal filed a motion in November 2021 challenging the group’s right to file the complaint anonymously. The newspapers argued that the plaintiffs “alleged fear of harm no longer outweighs the public’s interest in open legal proceedings,” according…
