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Employment – Vaccination
Where a plaintiff who was employed as a physical therapy assistant has alleged that the defendant employer took retaliatory action against him when he declined to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, (1) the plaintiff’s 42 U.S.C. §1983 claim — alleging that the defendant, acting under color of law, violated the plaintiff’s right to free exercise of religion under the First Amendment — must be di[...]
Panel revives religious bias, retaliation claims vs. Hasbro
1st Circuit revives lawsuit by Hasbro managers alleging religious discrimination and retaliation over COVID-19 vaccine exemptions they failed to receive.
Employment – Vaccination – Religious discrimination
Where a U.S. District Court judge dismissed claims brought by two plaintiffs who were denied religious exemptions from the defendant employer’s COVID-19 vaccination policy, the dismissals should be vacated because the plaintiffs have alleged plausible claims of retaliation and religious discrimination.
Labor – Discrimination – Disparate treatment
Where a Boston firefighter who unsuccessfully sought a religious exemption from vaccination and testing requirements has filed a complaint against his union, the complaint should not be dismissed, as the factual allegations are sufficient to state plausible claims of disparate treatment religious discrimination under Title VII and Chapter 151B and breach of the duty of fair representation.
Employment – Vaccination
Where a plaintiff employee who refused to receive a COVID-19 vaccination has alleged religious discrimination, the defendant company is entitled to summary judgment because the company both provided reasonable accommodations and met its burden in demonstrating that any further accommodations would pose an undue hardship.
Employment – Vaccination
Where a defendant hospital was awarded summary judgment on a claim of religious discrimination asserted by a plaintiff employee who was denied a religious exemption from the hospital’s COVID-19 vaccination policy, the judgment must be vacated because the plaintiff’s stated reasons for refusing the vaccine could be considered religious by a trier of fact.
Vaccine policy idling in Legislature as governor digs in
Days after Gov. Maura T. Healey splintered the commonwealth's immunization policies from the federal government, House Speaker Ron Mariano suggested vaccine misinformation could be spreading in his branch.
Civil rights – Standing – Causation
Where the plaintiff, a Boston firefighter whose request for a religious exemption from COVID-19 vaccination was denied, has filed a complaint against the executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, the complaint must be dismissed because the plaintiff has not sufficiently alleged causation.
Employment – Vaccination
Where a plaintiff was terminated after she refused, on religious grounds, to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in accordance with the defendant employer’s vaccination mandate, the plaintiff has not produced evidence that the vaccine mandate disparately impacted evangelical Christians, but summary judgment should be denied on her religious discrimination claims under Title VII and Chapter 151B, as g[...]
Employment – Vaccination – Undue hardship
Where a hospital employee was fired after she refused to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, the hospital is entitled to summary judgment on the employee’s religious discrimination claim, as no reasonable jury could conclude that the hospital could have accommodated the employee’s request for a religious exemption from its COVID-19 policy without incurring significant costs that, taken together, amoun[...]
Employment – Vaccination – Hardship
Where a defendant hospital has moved for summary judgment in a religious discrimination suit brought by a plaintiff nurse who was denied an exemption from the hospital’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, the motion should be allowed because accommodating the plaintiff’s pagan religious beliefs would have imposed an undue hardship on the defendant.
Verdicts & Settlements
- Injury during baby’s adenoidectomy leads to stroke
- Construction worker’s hand caught in cement mixer
- Worker trapped in freezer, dies during steam cleaning
- Pedestrian, 69, hit by motor vehicle while in crosswalk
- Four-vehicle pileup leaves driver with spinal cord injury
- Nursing home staff blamed for kidney-failure death
- Pharmacy’s late delivery blamed for patient’s death
- Man, 25, drowns after swimming lesson at fitness club
Opinion Digests
- Jurisdiction – Forum selection clause – Non-signatory
- Criminal – Responsibility
- Attorneys – Lien
- Landlord and tenant – Default judgment
- Zoning – Constructive grant – Comprehensive permit
- Fraud – False Claims Act – Settlement share
- Civil practice – Discovery – Cybersecurity
