Michigan Woman Awarded $12 Million After Being Fired for Refusing COVID Shot

A former Blue Cross Blue Shield employee was recently awarded $12 million by a federal jury in Detroit when she sued the insurance company for religious discrimination. Lisa Domski had worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield for almost 40 years when she was denied a religious exemption to the employee COVID-19 shot mandate.^{1 2}

Although Domski informed her employer that her Catholic faith prevented her from complying with the vaccine mandate, Blue Cross Blue Shield never followed up with her or her priest to confirm her devout religious beliefs.³ The insurance company refused to grant her any accommodations as required under Title VII and fired her.

Shot Required for Employees Working from Home

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, protects employees from religious discrimination in the workplace. Employees who inform their employer that their sincerely held religious beliefs prevent them from complying with a mandatory work requirement are protected from discrimination and retaliation in the workplace under Title VII. Employers have an affirmative obligation to seriously consider the request, enter into good faith talks and offer appropriate accommodations.⁴

In this case, Domski, an IT specialist, worked remotely 75 percent of the time prior to 2020 and 100 percent of the time during the pandemic. Rather than allowing Domski to continue to work remotely 100 percent of the time, the insurance refused to provide her any accommodations for her religious beliefs and fired her.

Jon Marko, Domski’s attorney, explained:

This was a woman who was working from home in her basement office who wasn’t a threat to anybody and was completely fulfilling all of her job obligations for 38 years.⁵

Blue Cross Blue Shield denied any religious discrimination and questioned the sincerity of Domski’s religious beliefs. The jury awarded Domski $10 million in punitive damages together with $1.7 million in lost wages and $1 million in noneconomic damages.⁶
Blue Cross Blue Shield’s statement in response to the extraordinary verdict read:

Throughout the pandemic, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, together with its employees, worked to promote the health and safety of our colleagues, stakeholders, and communities.⁷

Jon Marko said:

Our forefathers fought and died for the freedom for each American to practice his or her own religion. Neither the government nor a corporation has a right to force an individual to choose between his or her career and conscience. Lisa refused to renounce her faith and beliefs and was wrongfully terminated from the only job she had ever known. The jury’s verdict today tells BCBSM that religious discrimination has no place in America and affirms each person’s right to religious freedom.⁸

More Religious Discrimination Lawsuits to Follow for Blue Cross Blue Shield

Tanja Benton, another remote employee of Blue Cross Blue Shield was also recently awarded $700,000 by a federal court in Tennessee after being fired by the insurance company for refusing to comply with their COVID shot mandate due to her religious beliefs. Jon Marko shared that he is representing 170 other plaintiffs in wrongful termination cases against Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan.⁹

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