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CHICAGO— Advocate Aurora Health, an Illinois-based hospital system, violated federal law when it refused to accommodate a nurse’s religious beliefs and fired her for failing to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

The EEOC’s lawsuit alleged that in 2021, Advocate Health implemented a policy mandating that all employees receive a COVID-19 vaccination unless they were granted an exemption because of their religious beliefs. A

CHICAGO – Mercyhealth, a health care system operating hospitals and clinics in Illinois and Wisconsin, agreed to pay more than $1 million in monetary relief to a class of employees and has offered to reinstate employees that it terminated for refusing to comply with the organization’s COVID-19 vaccine policy.  The settlement follows an investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The agency’s investigation found reasonable cause to believe that Mercyhealth discriminated against employees

CHICAGO – Silver Cross Hospital, based in New Lenox, Illinois, violated federal law when it failed to provide a reasonable accommodation to employees who requested to be exempt from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine because of religious and disability reasons, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in two lawsuits filed today.

One employee, who worked in the hospital’s lab, requested a religious accommodation because taking the COVID-19 vaccine conflicted with her religious beliefs and

MINNEAPOLIS — The Mayo Clinic, which operates hospitals in Minnesota, Arizona and Florida, violated federal law when it refused to grant a security guard’s request for a reasonable religious accommodation to its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, and instead threatened to fire the employee, effectively forcing him to receive the vaccine and violate his conscience and religious beliefs to save his job, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According

CHICAGO – Omni Hotels Management Corporation, an international hotel chain company headquartered in Dallas, violated federal law at its Michigan Avenue location in Chicago when it discriminated against an employee by denying his request to not work on Sundays due to his religion, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. The suit also alleged that Omni retaliated against the employee for requesting an accommodation by substantially reducing his hours

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — QSR Pita USA Inc., which manages Pita Pit restaurants, violated federal law when it fired an employee of the Pita Pit in Sioux Falls after she disclosed her pregnancy and request for an accommodation for pregnancy-related nausea, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee informed her employer of her pregnancy and requested to continue working from home and

CHICAGO – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued R&L Carriers Shared Services, LLC, a freight transportation and logistics company, to enforce a subpoena that the EEOC issued during their investigation of a sex and pregnancy discrimination charge, the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC is investigating a charge of discrimination filed by a driver working for R&L Carriers in Matteson, Illinois. The driver alleges that R&L Carriers discriminated against her based on her

CHICAGO – Blackwell Security Services, Inc. will pay $70,000 and provide other relief to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC charged in its suit that Blackwell refused to accommodate an employee’s religious practice, needlessly forcing him to choose between his religion and his livelihood. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee, who worked as a concierge in Chicago, Illinois, is

CHICAGO – Blackwell Security Services, Inc., a hotel and condominium staffing company, violated federal law when it refused to accommodate an employee’s religious practice, forcing him to choose between his religion and his livelihood, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee, who worked as a concierge in Chicago, Illinois, is a practicing Muslim who wears a beard as required by his religious

CHICAGO – Symphony Deerbrook, LLC will pay $400,000 and furnish other relief to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over conduct at its Symphony of Joliet facility, the federal agency announced today.

In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Symphony, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility, imple­mented a policy requiring employees to inform the company of any pregnancy and to obtain a note from their doctor releasing

CHICAGO – Automaker Ford Motor Company will pay $115,000 and furnish other relief to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Ford violated federal law when it when it refused to hire a pregnant applicant to work at its stamping plant in Chicago Heights, Illinois, due to her pregnancy.  Ford extended the applicant a conditional offer, subject to