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Law360 (April 3, 2020, 9:35 PM EDT ) As the COVID-19 pandemic ravages New York City and its hospitals, a former New York University Langone Medical Center employee on Friday sued the hospital system for firing him after he refused to get a flu shot, hitting NYU Langone with religious discrimination claims in New York federal court.
Mitchell Weiner, whose job involved maintaining technical infrastructure for the hospitals, said NYU Langone made it mandatory a few years ago for employees to be vaccinated against the flu. Weiner said he was opposed to receiving the vaccine because of his religious beliefs, and he submitted a religious exemption form to the hospital system at the time, according to the suit.
Weiner said NYU Langone denied his objection in early 2017, issued him a written notice of discipline and directed him to receive the vaccine. He said that he told his supervisor and other hospital personnel that he would be willing to wear a mask around patients or work from home, but that the hospital instead suspended him. In March 2017, Weiner said, he was fired.
"Plaintiff had a sincerely held religious belief that prohibited him from obtaining a flu vaccine," he said in the suit. "Defendant failed to accommodate plaintiff's sincere request for a religious accommodation and therefore discriminated and retaliated against plaintiff because he expressed his honestly held religious beliefs."
He added that accommodating his religion "would not have created an undue hardship" for NYU Langone.
Weiner did not specify his religious affiliation in Friday's complaint.
Weiner's suit comes as NYC hospitals struggle to keep up with a surge in coronavirus patients. According to the New York Department of Health, the state had nearly 103,000 confirmed cases as of Friday morning. That accounts for a significant chunk of the country's roughly 239,000 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control. More than 5,400 people have died nationwide.
According to the suit, Weiner began working for NYU Langone in 2007 as an associate director of enterprise tools. He said he had no performance or disciplinary problems while working for the hospital.
"Importantly, plaintiff did not have contact with hospital patients," he said.
The hospital did not implement its flu vaccine policy until October 2016, Weiner said.
Weiner alleges religious discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. He seeks unspecified damages, including lost wages, past and future, along with attorney fees and court costs, according to the suit.
Weiner also asked the court to order NYU Langone to "immediately provide all employees with a safe, non-discriminatory work environment."
Counsel for Weiner and representatives of NYU Langone did not immediately return requests for comment late Friday.
Weiner is represented by Andrew R. Frisch of Morgan & Morgan PA.
Counsel information for NYU Langone was not immediately available Friday.
The case is Mitchell Weiner v. NYU Langone Hospitals, case number 1:20-cv-02786, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
--Editing by Peter Rozovsky.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
