Catholic Woman Wins $12.7 Million in Religious Discrimination Case Over Vaccine Mandate

A Michigan jury has awarded $12.7 million to a Catholic woman who sued her former employer for religious discrimination in a case centering on the company’s refusal to grant her a religious exemption from its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which ultimately led to her termination. 

Court documents revealed that the woman, Lisa Domski, who worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, had requested a religious exemption due to her belief that the three COVID-19 vaccines available at the time had been developed or tested using fetal cell lines originating from abortions, conflicting with her Catholic faith. 

Domski told a U.S. District Court in Michigan that receiving the vaccine “would be a terrible sin” that would harm “my relationship with God.” However, Blue Cross, a leading health insurance company, concluded that her stance did not qualify for a religious exemption.  

An information technology specialist working remotely with no in-person interactions with colleagues, Domski requested the accommodation but was terminated in January 2022 after nearly 38 years of employment with BCBSM. She filed a complaint claiming that her termination violated both federal and state anti-discrimination laws.  

John Marko, Domski’s attorney, said she was a devout Catholic and that she submitted a written statement to Blue Cross detailing her beliefs along with the name and contact information of her priest.

The insurance company did not reach out to Domski’s priest, according to Marko, who added that she was told she would be terminated if she failed to get the vaccine.    

The attorney stated that Domski was awarded a total of $13 million, including $10 million in punitive damages, $1.3 million in front pay, $1 million for pain and suffering, and $315,000 in back pay.   

“Our forefathers fought and died for the freedom for each American to practice his or her own religion,” the attorney said in a statement. “Neither the government nor a corporation has a right to force an individual to choose between his or her career and conscience.”

Added the attorney: “Lisa refused to renounce her faith and beliefs and was wrongfully terminated from the only job she had ever known.” The jury’s verdict sends a message to Blue Cross that “religious discrimination has no place in America and affirms each person’s right to religious freedom.”    

Blue Cross, Marko stated, neither took his client seriously nor others who refused to be vaccinated, particularly regarding religious exemption requests related to fetal cells. 

The attorney noted that, in fact, three out of four requests were denied, suggesting that Blue Cross treated employees as if their claims were fabricated or “not sincere.”

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, abortion is “gravely contrary to the moral law” and that “life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception.” It describes every abortion as a “moral evil” and labels abortion and infanticide as “abominable crimes.”

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith clarified in December 2020 that it is morally permissible for Catholics to receive vaccines developed using cell lines derived from two abortions. While the statement explained that receiving such vaccines “does not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion,” it also emphasized that this does not imply “a moral endorsement of the use of cell lines proceeding from aborted fetuses.”   

Although the Vatican approved the use of the vaccine, it stated that vaccination “must be voluntary.” It also stressed that individuals who refuse vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses for reasons of conscience must make every effort to “avoid … becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent.”

Photo credits: COVID-19 vaccines for City Employees via Rawpixel. CC0 1.0.