A jury in the US state of Michigan has awarded more than $12 million to a woman who lost her job at an insurance company for not taking a Covid-19 vaccine. The ruling is one of the largest in recent memory involving Covid vaccine mandates and workplace discrimination
A court in Detroit heard Lisa Domski, who had worked at the insurance company, Blue Cross Shield of Michigan for more than 30 years, claim that she was a victim of religious discrimination.
Ms Domski had said that the company’s vaccine policy – which did not grant an exemption – was in conflict with her Catholic beliefs. However, the health insurer refused to grant her a religious exemption from its vaccine mandate, which she had made based on her “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
She had worked at the company for 38 years, but found herself facing conflict when a vaccine mandate was introduced at BCBSM in October 2021. Her employer required all staff to be vaccinated, or to provide a valid religious or medical exemption.
The devout Catholic sought the exemption based on her religious beliefs, stating that to receive a Covid vaccine would be incompatible with her faith. She also gave the company a written statement outlining her beliefs, and with contact information for her priest and parish, in accordance with the company’s process for granting an exemption.
In December 2020, the Vatican issued a statement on the morality of using some Covid vaccines, noting that that it had received requests for guidance regarding the use of such vaccines which, in the course of research and production, “employed cell lines drawn from tissue obtained from two abortions that occurred in the last century.”
“At the same time, diverse and sometimes conflicting pronouncements in the mass media by bishops, Catholic associations, and experts have raised questions about the morality of the use of these vaccines,” the note said.
The long-time employee of the insurance company argued for an exemption on these grounds, writing in a statement:
“My religious view has always been and continues to be that abortion is murder and a sin against God.
“I must consider the moral aspects of the use of all vaccines that have connection to fetal cell lines obtained from an abortion.”
Ms Domski’s lawyer, Jon Marko, said that the Detroit woman had worked 100 per cent remotely as an IT specialist at the company when Covid hit. Prior to that, she had already worked remotely 75 per cent of the time. Despite her efforts to access an exemption, her request was denied, and she ultimately lost her job.
Speaking this week, her attorney, Jon Marko, argued that her former employer had failed to properly engage with her request and violated her religious rights.
In an interview delivered after the verdict, Mr Marko said that Ms Domski “wasn’t a danger to anybody.” He highlighted that she had worked remotely since the beginning of Covid, and that because her role was remote, and did not require in-person interaction, there was no risk to others.
“She was working from home in her basement office, fulfilling all of her job obligations,” he said. “Yet they insisted on firing her based on her sincerely held religious beliefs.”
“She had a sincerely held religious belief against the use of the vaccine,” Marko told the Free Press on Friday. “Blue Cross, what they did was evil.”
Besides punitive damages which totalled over $10 million, the jury in Detroit federal court awarded Domski roughly $1.7 million in lost pay and another $1 million in non-economic damages.
Punitive damages are typically awarded in cases where the defendant’s conduct is deemed to be particularly egregious or reckless. In the particular case, the jury found that the company had acted with malice in its handling of Lisa Domski’s exemption request, especially considering that she had provided adequate documentation supporting her claim for religious accommodation.
Blue Cross denied any discrimination and in a court filing earlier in the case, the insurer said Domski lacked a sincerely held religious belief.
An appeal is possible, and while the company released a statement in the wake of the verdict, it didn’t make anyone available for further comment. The company, which is one of the largest insurance providers in the area, said it respected the jury’s verdict, but was disappointed:
“In implementing the vaccine policy, Blue Cross designed an accommodation process that complied with state and federal law and respected the sincerely held religious beliefs of its employees. While Blue Cross respects the jury process and thanks the individual jurors for their service, we are disappointed in the verdict,” the company said.
“Blue Cross is reviewing its legal options and will determine its path forward in the coming days.”
The case is one of several high-profile cases challenging Covid vaccine mandates on the grounds of religious discrimination. In July, a woman in Tennessee was awarded a settlement of nearly $700,000 after being sacked for refusing the vaccine on religious grounds.
Ms Domski’s attorney is currently representing 170 additional individuals who are bringing wrongful termination lawsuits against BCMSM related to the insurance company’s controversial 2021 vaccine mandate.
Mr Marko told Detroit Free Press: “This is going to set the tone for Blue Cross, because it’s only going to get worse for them from here on out.”
The attorney, also a Catholic, said he voluntarily chose to get vaccinated, and he was initially sceptical about the lawsuit.
“But as I really got into the case and I got to know what Blue Cross did to these loyal workers, I knew I had to do something about it,” he said.