Dozens of former Asante employees are claiming in lawsuits filed within the last year that the hospital either put them on unpaid leave or fired them for refusing the COVID vaccine due to their faith.
U.S. District Court Judge Mark Clarke held a scheduling hearing on more than a dozen of those cases last week in an attempt to move forward in a “fair and efficient manner” with the large number of complaints.
In 2021, Oregon mandated COVID vaccines for health care workers but included an exception for religious and medical reasons. Before that rule, state law exempted medical care providers from being vaccinated. The Oregon Nurses Association opposed changing that law at the time.
“We are deeply concerned that a vaccine mandate outside of contract negotiations will result in more health care workers leaving the bedside at a time when Oregon’s hospitals are already experiencing serious staffing issues,” said ONA in a statement in 2021.
After that order, Asante told NewsWatch 12 that over 200 employees either resigned or lost their position after not taking the vaccine. The state vaccine requirement for health care workers has since been dropped.
Pacific Justice Institute lawyer Ray Hacke is representing over 50 clients in three lawsuits against Asante. He said that the hospital's actions, including ordering workers to take unpaid leave, didn’t provide them with reasonable accommodation.
“It’s not really an accommodation because it really put their employees in a tough spot. Basically, they had to choose between working and getting a steady paycheck or violating their faith,” said Hacke.
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission saw an almost 20 percent rise in discrimination claims in 2022 compared to the previous year. Over 10,000 of those related to COVID requirements.
