Children’s hospital to pay parking lot worker $45,000 for refusing to grant him a religious exemption to flu vaccine mandate

Main: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta sign is shown. (Screengrab via WXIA-TV); Inset: A man gets a flu shot at a health facility in Washington, DC January 31, 2020. (Photo by EVA HAMBACH/AFP via Getty Images).

One of the nation’ top children’s hospitals must pay $45,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by a maintenance worker who refused to get a flu shot for religious reasons.

DeMaurius Jackson worked at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) in Georgia as a maintenance assistant. According to court documents, Jackson’s duties primarily consisted of groundskeeping in outdoor parking lots, which required minimal interaction with the public. Jackson said his work involved no close proximity to patients, visitors, or staff.

According to Jackson’s complaint, he converted to Judaism in November of 2016. In 2017 and 2018, Jackson requested and received a religious accommodation exemption from the CHOA’s flu vaccination requirement. However, in 2019, the hospital denied Jackson’s written request and fired him.

Jackson filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employ­ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and said that in addition to denying the exemption, his supervisor “began trying to convince Jackson not to convert, telling him he was not a ‘real Jew,’ calling him a gentile, and purposefully ordering pork products for employee appreciation lunches despite Jackson’s objections.”

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