New England Biz Law Update
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has reached a $15 million conciliation agreement with a global technology company to resolve allegations of religious and disability discrimination tied to its COVID-19 vaccine policy.
The charges, filed in 2021, alleged that the company denied employees’ requests for religious and medical exemptions from its vaccine requirement and terminated workers who declined vaccination. Following its investigation, the EEOC found reasonable cause to believe the employer violated federal anti-discrimination laws.
The agency said that the alleged conduct implicated both Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs and qualifying disabilities unless doing so creates an undue hardship.
Resolution without litigation
The company agreed to resolve the matter voluntarily, without admitting liability and without litigation.
Under the three-year agreement, it will pay $15 million to affected employees and take steps to update its practices, including reviewing and revising its equal employment opportunity policies, providing annual training on religious and disability accommodations, tracking and reporting accommodation requests to the EEOC, and posting notices informing employees of their rights.
The EEOC did not name the employer, which is permitted when a case is resolved at the administrative stage before a lawsuit is filed.
Continued enforcement activity
The settlement is the largest the EEOC has reached to date involving a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. It also comes amid a broader set of enforcement actions in this area.
According to reporting by Reuters, the agency had secured more than $4 million in settlements related to COVID-19 vaccine mandate cases since 2023 prior to this agreement.
Recent matters include a $150,000 settlement with a nonprofit healthcare provider over a single denied religious exemption, and a $2.8 million resolution involving a research laboratory on behalf of a larger group of employees.
