The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is suing Rex Healthcare on behalf of an employee fired for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Heather Goeller claimed the vaccine requirement was against her religious beliefs, and she had previously been granted an exemption from flu vaccine by Rex, the EEOC wrote.
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"Rex Healthcare denied the employee’s accommodation requests and subsequently fired her for failing to comply with the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate," the EEOC wrote.
According to the lawsuit, Goeller worked in a department what was working remotely from the start of the pandemic in March 2020, and she was never asked to return to in-person work.
The lawsuit lays out that she "believes that receiving vaccines such as the COVID-19 and flu vaccines is inconsistent with God’s will."
Goeller had been given religious exemptions for the flu vaccine in 2019 and 2020, according to the suit, but when Rex established a COVID vaccine mandate in 2021, her four written requests for a religious exemption were denied. She was fired on Nov. 3, 2021.
“Employer-mandated vaccine policies must allow for religious accommodations for employees with conflicting sincerely held religious beliefs, unless the accommodation imposes an undue hardship for the employer,” said Melinda C. Dugas, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte District.
The EEOC is asking for a jury trial to determine whether Rex should be compelled to pay Goeller for wages she lost and other damages.
WRAL News asked Rex Healthcare why Goeller got an exemption for the flu shot but not the COVID shot and what steps the hospital system will take in response to the suit.
A spokesman responded with this statement: "UNC Health Rex is reviewing the lawsuit. However, it is our policy to avoid commenting on pending litigation."