A group of former Medline Industries employees have sued their former employer, claiming Medline illegally discriminated against them when the company fired them more than a year ago for refusing to receive one of the Covid vaccines.
The lawsuits claim Medline improperly denied their requests for religious exemptions and medical exemptions from its company-wide Covid vaccine mandate and then fired them, in violation of federal religious anti-discrimination laws and medical disability anti-discrimination laws.
Medline, based in suburban Northfield, is the largest privately-held manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies in the U.S. The company recorded more than $21 billion in sales in 2021, according to its website.
Edward M. Fox
| efoxlaw.com
The lawsuits against Medline were all filed on Nov. 11 in Chicago federal court. Attorney Edward M. Fox, of Chicago, is representing all the plaintiffs.
The lawsuits stem Medline’s decision last year to terminate employees across its organization who were not considered “fully vaccinated” against Covid-19.
According to court documents, Medline instituted the Covid vaccine mandate for its workers on Aug. 20, 2021, requiring “all ‘customer-facing’ employees” to be fully vaccinated against Covid by Nov. 1, 2021, or face termination.
According to the complaints, however, Medline did not include any opportunity for exemptions from the mandate for those with religious objections to the Covid vaccine, or with medical conditions that might preclude them from taking the vaccine.
The company allegedly also did not include any “testing alternative” for those who refused to take a Covid vaccine.
According to the complaints, Medline justified the terminations by claiming unvaccinated employees were “unable to do their jobs and alleged any accommodation would pose undue hardship” on the company.
However, the company allegedly still provided employees with forms ostensibly allowing them to request religious and medical exemptions.
But the lawsuits claim the exemption request process was “illusory.”
Rather than seriously consider the exemption requests, the lawsuits say Medline used the process to identify objectors and “mass terminate unvaccinated employees.”
The lawsuits do not state or estimate how many Medline employees were terminated as a result of the Covid vaccine mandate on Nov. 1, 2021. According to Medline’s website, the company employs more than 30,000 workers worldwide.
The lawsuits come as the latest filed against an employer over mass terminations stemming from the imposition of Covid vaccine mandates.
Earlier this year, Northshore University Healthsystem, which operates hospitals in Chicago’s northern suburbs, agreed to pay $10 million to unvaccinated workers it fired for refusing to receive a Covid vaccine, even though many of those employees requested religious exemptions or other accommodations.
Under that deal, Northshore also agreed to drop its Covid vaccine mandate and to consider rehiring many of those it had fired under the defunct mandate.
Covid vaccine mandates have come under increasing scrutiny in recent months, particularly as it becomes apparent much of the scientific basis for the mandates has been undone by the rapid evolution of the virus that causes Covid-19. While public health agents and others claimed the vaccines were effective at preventing infection and transmission of the virus, real world results indicate the vaccine performs no better than natural immunity at preventing infection and transmission, though it may reduce incidences of severe cases of the disease, such as those resulting in hospitalization.
The lawsuits against Medline were filed on behalf of five former Medline employees. These were identified in the complaints as:
- Jennifer Radecki, of Michigan. According to the complaint, Radecki had worked for Medline for eight years, most recently as a skin health sales representative. Her religious exemption request was denied on Oct. 15, 2021, according to the complaint;
- Claude M. Smith III, of Mississippi. According to the complaint, Smith had worked for Medline for 27 years, most recently serving as Medline’s market director of government accounts for the states of Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Montana, Idaho, Utah and Colorado. According to his complaint, Smith has an immune condition which would place him at medical risk from receiving a Covid vaccine. According to his complaint, Smith applied for a medical accommodation exemption in September 2021, but was still terminated on Nov. 1, 2021;
- Tara Herbst, of Iowa. According to the complaint, Herbst had worked for Medline for 15 years, most recently as a sales representative in Iowa. She allegedly sought both a medical accommodation and a religious exemption. Medline allegedly denied both requests late October 2021, and terminated her on Nov. 1, 2021;
- Joshua Rollins, of Georgia. According to the complaint, Rollins had worked for Medline for seven years, most recently as a sales representative in Atlanta. According to the complaint, Rollins applied for both a medical accommodation exemption and a religious exemption to receiving the vaccine. According to the complaint, his religious exemption request was denied the same day he submitted it. He was terminated Nov. 1, 2021;
- Ross Kuns, of Texas. According to the complaint, Kuns had worked for Medline for 20 years, most recently as a sales representative in Texas. His religious exemption request was allegedly denied on Oct. 19, 2021, and he was terminated on Nov. 1, 2021.
They are asking the court to order Medline to pay them unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for their lost wages and other losses and harms, plus attorney fees.
A spokesperson for Medline declined to comment on the lawsuits or the allegations of religious and medical discrimination, saying the company does not comment on pending litigation.