Government Sues Silver Cross Over COVID Vaccine Mandate After 2 Workers Lose Jobs

NEW LENOX, IL — Federal authorities are suing Silver Cross Hospital on behalf of two former employees who say they lost their jobs after they failed to comply with the hospital’s coronavirus vaccine requirement.

In the pair of civil lawsuits, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seeks jury trials, arguing that Silver Cross acted “with malice or with reckless indifference” and violated the Civil Rights Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act.

“Silver Cross Hospital does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation or employment-related matters,” Debra Robbins, the hospital's communications director, said in an email. “However, I would like to emphasize that, as a regional healthcare provider, Silver Cross Hospital’s foremost responsibility is to ensure the health and safety of our patients, our staff and the communities we serve.”

Debra Phillips, an insurance verification lead for the hospital, had a history of severe allergic reactions to vaccines and suffered hives, itching and the feeling that her tongue was swollen after she got the first dose of the coronavirus shot in early September 2021, ahead of Silver Cross’s late October deadline, the complaint said. Phillips had to go to the emergency room and missed at least two weeks of work, according to the lawsuit.

She submitted a medical exemption request in late September but did not receive a response until she was put on unpaid leave for noncompliance in December, the complaint said. She was terminated the same day without her knowledge and remained under the impression she was on leave until February 2022, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint regarding Phillips’ case argues the hospital violated both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act, whereas the second case, involving former employee Sarah Kotan, only claims violation of the Civil Rights Act.

In Kotan’s case, “her religious beliefs against abortion and murder conflicted with Defendant’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy because Kotan understood that the vaccine development included aborted fetal stem cells,” according to the complaint.

Kotan, who is Christian and worked in the hospital’s lab, requested a religious accommodation in September 2021 but was denied, the lawsuit said, adding her appeal was also denied and she was discharged from her job in mid-October.

Both women are seeking backpay, compensation, damages and interest, according to the lawsuits. Kotan is also seeking reinstatement, the complaint said.

“Absent an undue hardship, civil rights laws affirmatively require employers to accommodate an employee’s disability and religious practices,” Andrea Lucas, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's acting chair, said in a news release.

“Unfortunately, many employers’ vaccine mandates turned a blind eye to these long-standing civil rights laws. However, the novelty of the COVID-19 pandemic is not a shield for employers to engage in garden variety discrimination.”

The lawsuits were filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois after attempts to reach pre-litigation settlements failed, according to the commission.