A Spanish Fort, AL, continuing care retirement community is facing legal action for the late November 2021 firing of workers who refused the mandated COVID-19 vaccination for religious reasons. Parent companies Acts Retirement–Life Communities and Presbyterian Retirement Corp. also are named in the lawsuit.
Four former employees — Sloan Hamill, Katherine L. Howerin, Jennifer Sigley and Tina Wolfe — filed a federal lawsuit Thursday. They claimed that Westminster Village initially accepted their religious exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine but then “days later,” the Mobile-area community reversed its decision and fired them, according to court records.
The plaintiffs accuse the defendants of “willful, wanton and blatant disregard for religious accommodations,” the complaint said.
“My exemption was approved in the middle of September,” Howerin, former director of nursing for the CCRC, told the local CBS News affiliate. “And then Oct. 7, my administrator handed me a letter and basically rescinded the exception.”
Wolfe, who was the RN supervisor at the time, told the media outlet: “I was shocked because I didn’t think they could do that. How can they tell us they can’t accept our exemption when they already did it.”
The plaintiffs also allege that the employer had created a hostile work environment and subjected them to harassment over their refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination for religious reasons. Acts Retirement–Life Communities disagrees.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic Westminster Village sought to create the safest living and working environment for our residents and staff. As part of our processes, we implemented a vaccination mandate for all employees and considered the implications of declinations on the health and safety of our communities,” Michael Smith, corporate director of communications at Acts Retirement-Life Communities, told McKnight’s.
“As circumstances continue to evolve and the availability of treatments has increased, we have continued to evaluate our protocols and modified them as appropriate. Currently, the employee vaccination mandate remains in place, with accommodation made for those with approved religious and medical declinations,” he said.
