NorthShore To Pay $10.3M In Class Action Over COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

EVANSTON, IL — A local hospital conglomerate agreed to pay more than $10 million to end a class action lawsuit over its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.

Representatives of NorthShore University HealthSystem and the group of 14 then-employees who filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in October 2021 have agreed upon a settlement agreement to end the suit, court records show.

Attorneys for the staffers described the tentative class-wide settlement as "historic" and the "first of its kind."

NorthShore agreed to establish a $10,337,500 fund, which will provide compensation to approximately 523 of its current or former employees who were denied religious exemptions from its vaccine mandate requested between July 2021 and January 2022.

The hospital's workers are eligible for payouts whether they received a vaccine, quit because of it, or were fired due to their "religious declination of a COVID-19 vaccine," according to the terms of the proposed agreement.

An estimated 269 people resigned or were fired from their jobs at NorthShore based on their religious exemption, while about 204 received the vaccine after their religious exemptions were denied.

According to a court filings, the employees who agreed to get vaccine despite their religious objections may be eligible to receive about $3,000, while those who were terminated could get about $25,000.

Identified in court documents as Jane Does 1 through 14, the staffers include 11 nurses, a pharmacy technician, a patient access representative and a senior application analyst.

Citing the use of fetal tissue in medical research, they alleged the hospital operator's requirement that its then-approximately 17,000 employees get vaccinated against the coronavirus discriminated against them because of their religious beliefs.

One of them was granted a religious accommodation and kept her job, while the other 13 have left, according to court records.

The agreement calls for each of those 13 women to receive an additional $20,000. Their attorneys asked the judge to approve the allocation of more than $2.06 million in attorneys fees, which they described as well below the typical amount awarded.

Although both sides have agreed on the settlement deal, it must still be approved by a federal judge.

All employees terminated because of their refusal to get vaccinated for religious reasons will be eligible to be rehired at their previous level of seniority, should they apply within three months of the settlement's final approval.

NorthShore has also agreed to revise its staff vaccination policy and "maintain a step-by-step review process for requests for religious exemptions and accommodations."

Attorneys for the nurses said hospital representatives pledged to provide religious accommodations to all employees at every facility.

According to the request for court approval of the settlement agreement, attorneys for both sides met in May for a daylong mediation session with an experienced Title VII class action mediator, after which they engaged in further negotiations to hammer out each element of the 24-page proposed class action settlement agreement.

"The Parties’ extensive efforts led to the Settlement Agreement — a product of hardfought, principled negotiations initiated by a well-respected mediator," according to the 29-page brief in support of the request for a certification of the settlement class and preliminary approval of the settlement.

A NorthShore spokesperson said in a statement the settlement is in line with its revised staff vaccination policy. Since the lawsuit was originally filed, NorthShore added three additional hospitals through a merger to grow to more than 25,000 employees.

"We continue to support system-wide, evidence-based vaccination requirements for everyone who works at NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst Health and thank our team members for helping to keep our communities safe," NorthShore Public Relations Director Colette Urban told Patch. "The settlement reflects implementation of a new system-wide vaccine policy which will include accommodation for team members with approved exemptions, including former employees who are rehired."

The Jane Doe plaintiffs were represented by attorneys from the nonprofit group Liberty Counsel, an Orlando, Florida-based Christian ministry founded in 1989 by two attorneys who are married to each other, according to its website. Its anti-LGBTQ advocacy has led the Southern Poverty Law Center to designate it as a hate group.

Horatio Mihet, the chief litigation counsel of Liberty Counsel and lead attorney for the Jane Does in the case, said in a statement that he was very pleased with "historic" settlement.

"The drastic policy change and substantial monetary relief required by the settlement will bring a strong measure of justice to NorthShore’s employees who were callously forced to choose between their conscience and their jobs," Mihet said. "This settlement should also serve as a strong warning to employers across the nation that they cannot refuse to accommodate those with sincere religious objections to forced vaccination mandates.”

Liberty Counsel founder and chairman, Mat Staver, also issued a statement Friday, describing the settlement as the "first of its kind in the nation" involving mandatory coronavirus vaccinations.

"This settlement should be a wake-up call to every employer that did not accommodate or exempt employees who opposed the COVID shots for religious reasons. Let this case be a warning to employers that violated Title VII," Staver said. "It is especially significant and gratifying that this first classwide COVID settlement protects health care workers. Health care workers are heroes who daily give their lives to protect and treat their patients. They are needed now more than ever.”

Related:

• NorthShore, Unvaccinated Staff Agree To Mediation In Vax Mandate Suit
• 13 Of 14 Staff Suing NorthShore Over Vaccine Mandate Have Left Their Jobs
• NorthShore Vaccine Mandate Challenge Goes Before Federal Judge
• Unvaccinated NorthShore Staff Drop Appeal Of Order Allowing Their Firing
• Nurses Who Refuse Vaccine Can Be Fired By NorthShore, Judge Rules
• NorthShore Staff Sue Over Religious Exemptions To Vaccine Mandate