Former Biglaw Employee Sues Firm After Being Fired For Refusal To Comply With Vaccine Mandate

Through the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Biglaw corporations throughout the nation instituted vaccine mandates in an effort to guard the members of their workforce. Now, a former worker who was fired for refusing to be vaccinated has filed swimsuit, claiming that the agency discriminated towards her.

Denise Lemke, who as soon as labored as a apply group assistant at Jenner & Block — a agency that introduced in $582,122,000 gross income in 2023, placing it at No. 86 within the Am Regulation 100 — alleges that the agency ought to have granted her a non secular exemption from vaccination. Law360 has the main points:

“Plaintiff contended, in her written request, that use of the vaccines was ‘inconceivable’ to her in that ‘abortion is homicide.’ Taking any of the vaccines would due to this fact ‘be a mortal sin’ in that it could require her to ‘condone the killing of an unborn little one,”‘ in response to the swimsuit.

The agency denied her lodging request shortly after. Lemke claims Jenner “granted comparable requests for lodging that had been sought by males, and had been sought by individuals youthful than plaintiff (53 on the time of her termination).”

Lemke claims she was fired on March 22, 2022, as a result of Jenner denied her lodging requests.

Though comparable fits have been rejected by the courts, Lemke is transferring ahead with hers, alleging that Jenner discriminated towards her primarily based on her faith, intercourse, and age. She is in search of again and ahead wages, punitive damages, prices, and legal professional charges.

Jenner & Block Sued For Firing Worker Over Vax Refusal [Law360 (sub. req.)]
Former BigLaw employee alleges she was wrongly fired for vaccine refusal [ABA Journal]

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Regulation, the place she’s labored since 2011. She’d love to listen to from you, so please be happy to email her with any ideas, questions, feedback, or critiques. You’ll be able to observe her on X/Twitter and Threads or join together with her on LinkedIn.