A federal appeals court in Chicago is deciding whether to issue a preliminary injunction to a pediatrician who was fired in November for refusing a Covid-19 vaccine, while several of his colleagues who also refused the vaccine have been asked to return.
Dr Paul Halczenko was one of 69 people who filed a lawsuit after their employer, Ascension Health, rejected a request for religious exemption from vaccinations, and they were fired.he is petition court Return the job to him with unpaid wages.
Ascension Health notified employees that it was too risky for them to return to work without vaccinations, but according to William Bock III, most of those laid off were asked to return to work shortly after. Attorney for Dr. Halczenko.
Dr. Halczenko, a physician in the paediatric intensive care unit at St Vincent’s Hospital, part of Ascension, has been unemployed since Nov. 12 without explanation, Bock said. He added that the four nurses he also represented were asked to return to work in December, but Dr Halczenko was not asked to return to work or given a reason.
“We can’t explain why Dr. Halczenko was treated differently,” Bock said. “We think it’s religious discrimination.”
Denise Blommel, a longtime labor and employment attorney who is also a member of the Americans with Disabilities Act labor and employment branch, said the question here is, “Why do employers tell everyone the same thing while four nurses Can you return without a vaccine and in a different situation to a doctor?”
More importantly, she added, “are those reasons ever communicated?” Blommel noted that Title VII requires employers to provide accommodation for employees.
“Maybe four nurses can fit, but pediatricians can’t,” she speculates.
Another question I would ask is, “What’s different about a doctor? Is he a member of another protected class under Chapter VII? Is he treated differently because of his race, color, or national origin? If he’s treated differently treatment, it would be illegal.”
Ascension Health, the second-largest hospital operator in the U.S., mandated that all employees be vaccinated by Nov. 12, 2021, but were fired when several employees refused to receive the vaccine, claiming to have a religious exemption under Chapter VII.
“As far as I know, they didn’t grant any religious immunity, but they granted medical immunity,” Bock said.
This week, the Seventh Circuit heard oral arguments in Dr. Halczenko’s case. Bock argues that a preliminary injunction should be issued to the doctor based on the fact that “if he is unable to work, his fine motor skills will weaken and cause him injury as a result.”
Bock says he hopes Dr. Hartsenko “Reinstated back pay.” He and Is also asked the court to certify nationwide Ascension Health employees, more than 300, who claimed religious immunity. Bock said that while most were asked to return to work, they were not rewarded for their hardships by initially losing their jobs.
Attorneys for Ascension Health did not respond to requests for comment.
the case is Halczenko v. Ascension Healthcompany7th Cir., No. 22-01040.
Photo: Andrei Popov, Getty Images
