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More than 500 current and former Illinois health care workers will now be compensated after being denied religious exemptions to the Covid-19 vaccine mandate by the NorthShore University HealthSystem, signaling a victory for medical freedom.
According to the Washington Examiner, the group of healthcare workers will receive a $10 million settlement after U.S. District Judge John Kness, a Trump-appointed judge, sided with legal group Liberty Counsel representing 13 plaintiffs in the state’s Northern District Court in late July.
The 13 plaintiffs are eligible to receive an additional $20,000. Workers who resigned or were fired for failing to comply with the vaccine mandate are eligible to receive $25,000, and workers who received the vaccine against their religious beliefs will be eligible for roughly $3,000 in compensation, the group noted.
Those fired over opposition to the mandate will also be eligible for re-employment.
Founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, Mat Staver, told “Fox & Friends” that virtually all employees were denied religious accommodations to the vaccine mandate.
“It was literally no religious accommodation, which they’re required to do under the federal employment law called Title VII,” Staver said.
Under Title VII, employers in both the private and public arena are required to accommodate religious beliefs, which NorthShore failed to do, Staver explained.
“It’s a big wakeup call to employers across the country that did not do these accommodations as they’re required under Title VII,” he continued.
Similarly, in July, another Trump-appointed judge, Matthew McFarland, temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for Air Force members, RSBN previously reported.
