Federal Jury Rules Transit Agency Must Pay Workers Fired Due To COVID-19 Jab Mandate Over $1 Million Each

A federal jury ruled the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) must pay former employees fired over the COVID-19 jab mandates $1 million each.

The jury for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California returned a verdict saying the agency must pay around $7.8 million to six former employees.

The fired workers sought religious exemptions to the agency’s COVID-19 jab mandate.

BART workers fired due to COVID vaccine mandate to get over $1M each, federal jury decides https://t.co/muZvOpq0Dv

— Warner Mendenhall (@MendenhallFirm) October 24, 2024

Per Bloomberg Law:

The jury in an earlier phase of the trial had rejected BART’s primary defense that the public transit agency couldn’t reasonably accommodate the employees seeking religious exemptions without an undue hardship.

The case is one of hundreds from workers around the country arguing their employers improperly denied their faith-based bids for exemption from vaccine mandates implemented in the midst of the pandemic.

The workers’ attorney Kevin Snider of the Pacific Justice Institute said in a statement that “the rail employees chose to lose their livelihood rather than deny their faith,” which shows the sincerity of their convictions.

“After nearly three years of struggle, these essential workers feel they were heard and understood by the jury and are overjoyed and relieved by the verdict,” he said.

San Francisco BART to Pay $7 Million in Worker COVID Vaccine Case (1)

Each worker to receive $1 million

Still, NYC workers cases left pending in appeals with no decisions..https://t.co/EiXO0yt9j0

— Teachers for Choice (@teacher_choice) October 24, 2024

According to ABC7 San Francisco, the former employees said the transit agency did not accommodate their religious exemptions.

Another crack in the dam! San Francisco BART to pay $7,000,000 in worker v@cc1ne case!

Workers say they faced religious discrimination over m@ndate. https://t.co/IkhR38jNYs pic.twitter.com/aaEA7sorjp

— Silent Majority Foundation (@smfjb_org) October 24, 2024

ABC7 San Francisco reports:

BART did initially grant vaccine exemptions, but the plaintiffs argued they weren’t accommodated. An accommodation could have meant that they were able to work from home or get COVID tested regularly for COVID. They argued none of that happened and they lost their job.

In total, BART must now pay a combined $7.8 million to all six former employees.

BART is a transit agency that is already between $350 and $400 million in the red, but BART’s board of directors did vote eight to one for the vaccine mandate in 2021.

BART has not commented on Wednesday’s decision.

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This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.

View the original article here.