Former employee sues Mercy Hospital Springfield over religious exemption to COVID-19 shot
A former employee is filing a lawsuit against Mercy Hospital Springfield and MHM Support Systems for alleged discrimination and retaliation after they denied her request for a religious exemption from COVID-19 vaccination and later terminated her employment.
According to the complaint filed in the Western District of Missouri, Kristy Cyr had been employed with Mercy Hospital Springfield since 1997 as a speech language pathologist. Cyr identifies as a Christian.
She worked with COVID-19 patients in the intensive and acute care units during the pandemic prior to the vaccine becoming available to the public.
In July 2021, Mercy Hospital Springfield announced that all employees needed to be vaccinated by Sept. 30, 2021, or possibly face termination if they did not receive a health or religious exemption.
From 2021:As vaccine deadline approaches, 95% of Mercy's workforce got their COVID shots
Cyr alleges in the complaint that although she filed a religious exemption request, it was denied because it was "not based on her 'sincerely held religious beliefs.'" Along with the request, she said she submitted certification from another person who "attested that her religious beliefs are sincerely held."
In a charge of discrimination she submitted to the Missouri Commission on Human Rights and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she identified herself as a "non-denominational Christian" and that in her accommodation request, "I expressed that I felt God did not want me to take the vaccine."
On Oct. 1, 2021, Cyr was suspended without pay, and her employment was terminated on Oct. 28, 2021. She is seeking "all available relief" and requested a jury trial in Springfield.
"Mercy doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but as a hospital system subject to the federal government’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services COVID-19 vaccine mandate, we comply with both the vaccine mandate and all federal anti-discrimination requirements. Mercy always strives to do everything we can to keep patients, their family members and our co-workers as safe and protected as possible," said Sonya Kullmann, Mercy's media relations and communications manager. "Mercy’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement for co-workers allows for medical and religious exemptions. While not everyone who applied received an exemption, Mercy has granted both."
As of press time, request for comment from Cyr's lawyer had not been returned.
According to a News-Leader article from July 7, 2021, then-President Bret Hubbard said the hospital chose to require vaccination among employees in July, rather than when Missouri made COVID-19 vaccines available to all adults in early April, because "we know a lot more about the vaccine, a lot more time has passed, and we know the results of the vaccine now as well."
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Former Springfield hospital employee sues for denied vaccine exemption
