Mayo breached worker’s religious rights with mandatory COVID shot, federal suit claims

Mayo Clinic discriminated against a security guard by effectively forcing him to get a COVID-19 shot despite his religious beliefs, federal employment regulators claim in a lawsuit against the health care provider.

Citing his Pentecostal faith, Cody Schultz asked Mayo in 2021 to exempt him from its mandatory COVID vaccination policy, according to the suit filed Wednesday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Mayo rejected his exemption request and threatened to fire him if he didn’t get the shot, according to the suit.

The Rochester-based health care provider compelled Schultz to get the vaccine or lose his job, violating his “religious observance” and breaking federal law, the suit claims. Schultz worked at Mayo’s “site” in Rochester, the complaint says.

Mayo Clinic declined to comment on the pending litigation.

COVID vaccination mandates have led to an increase in religious discrimination suits by the EEOC in recent years, including one against a subsidiary of Minnesota health care giant UnitedHealth Group.

All manner of employers, but particularly health care providers, rolled out vaccine mandates as the pandemic raged, aiming to protect employees, customers and patients.

Mayo implemented a mandatory COVID vaccination policy for all employees in December 2021, which applied unless the employee received a medical or religious exemption.

Schultz asked for a religious exemption, telling Mayo he belonged to the Assemblies of God Church, which emphasizes the Pentecostal doctrine of “divine healing,” the suit said.

Schultz believes that his body “is the Temple of the Holy Spirit” and the vaccine contained certain ingredients that were inconsistent with his religious beliefs. He cited several Bible passages to support his position.

Mayo responded that Schultz didn’t meet the criteria for a religious exemption. The clinic rejected the security guard’s reconsideration request and told him he would lose his job without the shot.

Schultz filed a complaint against Mayo with state human rights regulators and the EEOC.

The EEOC is asking for a federal court order prohibiting Mayo from “denying reasonable accommodations to employees with sincerely held religious beliefs.” The commission is also asking that Schultz be compensated for monetary and non-monetary losses — and awarded punitive damages.

EEOC suits over religious rights and COVID vaccines increased particularly after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in mid-2023 that reinterpreted the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s standard for religious accommodation in the workplace.

That case, Groff v. DeJoy, involved a postal worker’s request to be exempted from working on Sundays due to his religious beliefs. The Postal Service declined the exemption, pleading an “undue hardship” — a shortage of carriers.

The high court unanimously sided with the mail carrier. The decision set a higher bar for employers to show undue hardship in accommodating workers’ religious beliefs.

Shortly after the decision, the EEOC sued a nationwide furniture dealer, Hank’s Furniture, and United Healthcare Services, an arm of Eden Prairie-based UnitedHealth Group, for religious discrimination.

Hank’s Furniture settled with the EEOC in July 2024, agreeing to pay $110,000 and adopt a new religious accommodation policy for workers.

The UnitedHealth case is still pending in an Ohio federal court. It involves a supervisor of clinical administration, Amanda Stone, who worked full-time from home, according to the EEOC. UnitedHealth denies she worked only from home.

In October 2021, the company began requiring several categories of employees to be vaccinated. Stone asked for an exemption to accommodate her Christian beliefs, using Bible passages to support her argument.

UnitedHealth denied the request, Stone still didn’t get the vaccination, and the company fired her. It denies the EEOC’s claims.