It may be illegal for employers to make any employment decision based on claiming religious or medical exemption to a workplace COVID-19 vaccination mandate. Making employment decisions about wages, promotions, discipline, suspensions, or terminations even partly on the basis of an employee’s claim of vaccination exemption is prohibited by Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act as religious discrimination, or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as disability discrimination, or their Minnesota state law equivalents.
In this new and ever evolving legal landscape, you will need a trusted Minnesota employment lawyer to help navigate your options if you’ve claimed exemption from a workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
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COVID-19 Vaccine Exemption FAQs
+ How do I prove discrimination based on a COVID-19 vaccine exemption claim?
In order to win an employment religious or medical discrimination claim, you must prove that the stated reason for an employment decision is not the actual, illegal reason – that you claimed religious or medical exemption. Your employment lawyer needs to demonstrate that the employer's stated decisions about wages, promotion, discipline, suspension, or termination are either factually wrong or that they weren’t applied equally to similarly-situated employees with different religious practices or medical circumstances.
It is unlawful for an employer to question the accuracy of a sincerely held religious belief – most any belief is valid under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The challenge in securing a religious accommodation pursuant to Title VII is not whether the belief is correct, but whether it is sincerely held.
+ Can my employer fire me if I claim exemption from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate?
Maybe, and this is where you will need an experienced Minnesota employment lawyer to help navigate the evolving legal landscape. Although state and local rules vary, many directives give employers the option to ask unvaccinated employees to submit to weekly COVID-19 testing, wear masks, and keep physically distant from other workers and visitors.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said that the federal anti-discrimination laws it enforces don't prohibit employers from requiring all employees who physically enter the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Employers that encourage or require vaccinations, however, must consider reasonable accommodations when employees refuse to get vaccinated for medical reasons, including pregnancy-related reasons, or based on sincerely held religious beliefs, unless an accommodation would cause undue hardship for the business.
+ How much is a workplace religious or medical discrimination case worth?
This depends on the strength of your case, the amount of damages you’ve suffered, on the ability of your employer to pay – and on how the facts of your case fit into the changing local, state, and federal legal context. While it is not possible to state what the average settlement for a workplace religious or medical discrimination case is, we will be able to better estimate the possible outcomes during your free consultation.
+ Can I claim religious or medical discrimination even if I quit my job?
Yes. If your employer made working conditions so hostile that you had no choice but to resign, this is known as constructive discharge. Workplace religious or medical discrimination claims may still apply under these circumstances.
+ What is the statute of limitations for a religious or medical discrimination case?
In Minnesota, you have one year from the date of the last act of discrimination to bring a lawsuit or file a claim with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. You have 300 days from the date of the last act of discrimination to file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), if you want to bring federal claims under Title VII of The Civil Rights Act.
+ What should I do if my employer has discriminated against me because of I've claimed religious or medical exemption from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate?
Write everything down: what happened to you; the dates of the discriminatory acts, who made the employment decisions or communicated them to you, what they said were the reasons for the decisions, and who was present; whether you think the reasons your employer gave you were accurate and why; the names of employees that you think may have useful information; and the types of documents that you think may have useful information.
Gather documents: pay stubs; personnel files; employee handbook; any other letters, text messages, or emails from your employer that you think might be helpful. You should send a written request to your employer requesting your personnel file and the reason for the decision about wages, promotion, discipline, suspension, or termination, which must be provided to you under Minnesota law.
In the event your employment was terminated and if your employer has not paid you all of your wages, request those wages in writing.