A registered nurse who formerly worked in Mount Nittany Health’s obstetrics and gynecology group is suing Mount Nittany Health System and Mount Nittany Medical Center Health Services claiming she lost her position after declining to receive a vaccination.
Rebecca Smith of Alexandria filed a civil rights lawsuit in U.S. Middle District Court this week, claiming she lost her job after declining ‘due to various reasons including her religious beliefs’ to receive a Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis (TDAP) vaccination as a condition of her employment.
Smith was terminated from her position and subsequently was offered and accepted another position in a different department. Her lawsuit alleges religious discrimination, retaliation and failure to accommodate her religious beliefs. She is seeking back pay and benefits, including any bonuses or increases as well as punitive damages.
‘At Mount Nittany Health our mission is to make people healthier and to implement reasonable precautions to protect our patients, employees and visitors from infectious diseases,’ Communications Coordinator Anissa Ilie said in a statement. ‘As with any pending legal matter, we are not able to provide further comment.”
Smith had worked in the OB/GYN group since 2011. While on leave in March 2015 for the birth of her child, Smith said she received an email from an employee health assistant informing her that her TDAP vaccination was overdue. Smith claimed she had never received a TDAP vaccination, had not been required to up to that point, and that it is not legally mandated.
After asking to opt out of the vaccination, Smith received an email stating the vaccination ‘is a condition of employment for all employees and thus you may not opt out. The vaccination is required to protect the health of all patients, especially the very young that have not been completely vaccinated for Pertussis. As a [Women & Children Services] employee, you know the importance of protecting vulnerable neonates and young infants/children. Please contact [Employee Health Services] to schedule an appointment for this mandatory vaccination.’
Smith charges that the email did not address her religious objections and that her request not to have the vaccination would not have impeded her ability to do her job since she had been doing so without it since her hiring.
After refusing to get the vaccination, Smith says she was involuntarily placed out of work and in May 2015 submitted a grievance that she believed Mount Nittany was violating anti-discrimination laws and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, among other laws.
The complaint claims Vice President for Human Resources Gerald Dittman responded about a month later asking Smith to provide in detail why she was opposed to receiving the vaccination, but did not provide a deadline for responding. In July she was terminated and says later that month sent correspondence to Dittman outlining in detail her concerns about the vaccine and her religious beliefs.
Smith filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission in August. The complaint says she received a letter from Dittman on Nov. 30, 2015 acknowledging Mount Nittany had received a copy of the formal charge of discrimination in early November. The letter says Mount Nittany made its first attempt to offer accommodation in September, but Smith claims they never reached out to her or her attorney.
The letter goes on to offer Smith an accommodation for her religious belief. Dittman’s letter stated she could not return to the OB/GYN group without the vaccination, but could do so in another department provided she wear a surgical mask within six feet of patients.
Smith accepted the offer are returned to work at Mount Nittany in February. Her lawsuit claims Mount Nittany is in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
