Two nurses who say they were fired for refusing to get vaccinated against Covid-19 have sued Westchester Medical Center Health Network for religious discrimination.
Donna Dennison and Catherine Gebert accused the Valhalla-based medical system of denying their requests for religious exemptions to the vaccine, April 8 in U.S. District Court, White Plains, in violation of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.
WMCHealth communications director Andrew LaGuardia declined to respond to their allegations, citing a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
Dennison, of Port Jervis, Orange County, worked as a part-time, cardiac care registered nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital, a part of WMCHealth’s Bon Secours Charity Health System Medical Group, in Suffern, Rockland County.
Gebert, of Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County, worked as a per diem, infusion-chemotherapy registered nurse at Bon Secours’ Goshen Medical Associates.
WMCHealth notified all employees on Aug. 13 that they must be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30, the complaint states. Those who failed to comply would be suspended without pay for up to 30 days and then fired.
The policy allowed for “limited medical and religious exemptions,” according to the complaint.
Dennison applied for an exemption “based on her sincerely held religious beliefs,” the complaint states, “including her belief that ‘as a born-again Christian I am to be led by the Holy Spirit and what he speaks to my heart in regards to my body, and I will not defile my body with a vaccine that has not been proven safe for my body.'”
She included a statement from her church pastor who supported her deeply held biblical convictions.
Gebert’s application stated that “my body belongs to God and is the temple of the Holy Spirit,” and she noted her opposition to abortion or to benefitting from abortion.
Some religious leaders have objected to various vaccines that have been developed with human fetal cells from abortions.
WMCHealth required the nurses to wear N95 masks at all times while indoors on its campuses. Dennison says she was required to get tested for Covid-19 twice a week, and Gebert says she was required to be tested every three days.
On Oct. 11, their requests for religious exemptions were denied. No additional information had been requested, the complaint states, no explanations were given and no undue hardships for the medical system were cited.
On Oct. 28, they were fired.
The nurses are demanding back pay, front pay or reinstatement, and compensatory and punitive damages.
They are represented by Mount Kisco attorney Steven M. Warshawsky and Salem, Massachusetts attorney Andrea Paparella.
