Mass General Brigham employees sue hospital system for denying COVID-19 vaccination exemptions - msnNOW

A group of Mass General Brigham employees are suing the health care system for denying their medical or religious exemptions for getting a COVID-19 vaccine, arguing that the denials are discriminatory and violate protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to court documents.

The lawsuit was filed Sunday in US District Court as Mass General Brigham, the state’s largest hospital system, nears its Wednesday deadline for employees to show they have received at least one shot or be placed on unpaid leave.

McLane and Lauren Bradford say Mass General Brigham chose to “ignore” federal law and created its own internal process for granting religious and medical accommodations.

Mass General Brigham “wrongfully denied all of the plaintiffs’ accommodation requests by creating a system that hindered its employees’ ability to communicate their beliefs and disabilities, restricted their access to those reviewing requests for accommodations and by total failure to engage in an interactive process,” the memo said.

Mass General Brigham, which employs 80,000, said it has communicated regularly with employees since the company announced the mandate, and had a process for them to request an exemption for medical or religious reasons.

Four employees who sought a religious accommodation were denied, and two employees who sought both a religious or medical disability accommodation were denied, the lawsuit says.

In June, Mass General Brigham was among a group of the state’s hospitals that mandated all employees get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Roughly 1,900 employees at Mass General Brigham remained unvaccinated or had failed to submit documentation showing they had received at least one dose of a vaccine as of Friday, the hospital system said last week.