The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge on Monday to Mass General Brigham's COVID vaccine mandate for staff. The suit was brought last week by employees who were fired for refusing to be vaccinated.
A group of employees claimed the hospital failed to accommodate employees' religious or medical objections to vaccination, violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Justice Stephen Breyer, who handles emergency cases from Massachusetts, rejected the case, choosing not to refer it to the full court.
Mass General Brigham says 430 staff members were fired for "non-compliance" with the vaccine mandate, and that more than 80,000 employees complied.
"Mass General Brigham joins many other leading health care systems in the United States in making COVID-19 vaccination a condition of employment, ensuring that patients are being cared for in the safest clinical environment possible," a hospital spokesperson said in a statement. "Mass General Brigham has communicated regularly with employees since we announced the mandate and had a process for employees to request an exemption for medical or religious reasons. We received a number of exemption requests, and each request was carefully considered by a knowledgeable team of reviewers."
The case went to the Supreme Court after both the U.S. District Court and First Circuit Court of Appeals denied requests for preliminary injunctions.
The appeal to the Supreme Court said that Mass General Brigham had already terminated the plaintiffs, "depriving them of the ability to feed their families." It said many of them are the sole breadwinners for their families, "and are currently suffering significant psychological harm from their inabilities to provide, even as they lose their health insurance and other employee benefits."
The Supreme Court rejected a similar appeal from health care workers
in Maine last month. The high court is also reviewing a case in
New York after the appeals court made a similar decision.
