Category: Lawsuits

Louisiana Health Dept. Reverses Itself In “Morning-After” Pill Case

State Agrees To Provide Religious Accommodation For Nurse After Discrimination Complaint Filed With EEOC

News Release

American Center for Law and Justice

(New Orleans, LA) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm committed to protecting life, announced today that the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals has reversed itself and has now agreed to stop discriminating against a public health nurse from New Orleans who was threatened with termination for refusing to dispense pregnancy-ending medication – a job requirement that violates her deeply held religious beliefs.

The move comes less than one week after the ACLJ filed formal complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights contending that Louisiana Dept. of Health and Hospitals is discriminating against the nurse because of her religious beliefs.

“We’re delighted that the religious beliefs of our client will now be accommodated in the workplace,” said Stuart J. Roth, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which is representing the nurse. “From the beginning, our client just wanted to do her job without violating her conscience and her religious beliefs. Unfortunately, it took formal action on our behalf and publicity about the case before the state agreed to do what it should have done all along – stop threatening and criticizing our client and permit her to work without violating her religious beliefs.

Last week, the ACLJ filed complaints with the EEOC and the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights on behalf of Cynthia Day of Marrero, Louisiana who is employed as a Public Health Nurse III with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health at a clinic in New Orleans. The complaints contend that Day repeatedly told her supervisors that she could not dispense what is known as an emergency contraception pill, also known as a “morning-after” pill – medication designed to end pregnancies. Day says she holds a sincere religious belief that human life, beginning at fertilization, is sacred and cannot be harmed in any way.

But instead of accommodating her beliefs, the complaints contend that Day was criticized for her beliefs and threatened with being fired. In fact, as the complaints were being filed last week, Day received a disciplinary letter from her employer – a letter proposing a five-day suspension without pay for insubordination.

Then, within days of filing the complaints and following publicity about the case, Day received a letter from Madeline W. McAndrew, Assistant Secretary of the Dept. of Health and Hospitals. In the letter dated October 25th, McAndrew said the Health Department “is rescinding the proposed action and will accommodate your request based on religious and moral grounds.” McAndrew told Day that she instructed officials to “immediately remove you from any duties that require you to discuss or provide the emergency contraception pill.” At the same time, McAndrew stated that a listing of “reassignment opportunities” will be made available to Day “for future permanent duty assignments to accommodate your request …”

“We plan to withdraw the complaints filed with the EEOC and with the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights when our client receives the accommodation,” said Roth. “We will continue to work with our client to ensure that her religious beliefs are accommodated and monitor the ongoing employment status very closely to make sure she is not discriminated against in the workplace.”

“This is a very important victory in one of the fastest growing areas of pro-life litigation – protecting the conscience rights of health care workers,” said Roth.

The resolution of the Louisiana case comes on the heels of a major federal court decision in California. In May 2002, the ACLJ successfully convinced a jury that Riverside County violated the constitutional rights of a former nurse who was fired from her job for refusing to dispense “morning-after” medication. A federal court jury found that the county violated her First Amendment rights of free speech, freedom of religion, and failed to reasonably accommodate her religious beliefs. Damages in that case – including a jury award and attorney’s fees – totaled $100,000.

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law and protecting human life. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA.

No Equal Opportunities for Nurse With Pro-Life Views

NEWS RELEASE

Rutherford Institute

Salem, OR–January 30, 2002–Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute filed suit yesterday on behalf of Janice Turner, a public health nurse who lost her job with the Marion County Health Department due to her deeply held religious belief that life begins at conception. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, charges that Turner’s supervisor at the Women’s Clinic harassed and retaliated against her for her pro-life views and refused to accommodate her religious objections to discussing or promoting abortion procedures with her patients.

Turner, a public health nurse with the Health Department from 1990 until July 2001, had early on in her employment expressed her religious opposition to abortion and requested accommodation from having to discuss or promote abortion procedures with her patients.

According to Turner, her initial supervisor accommodated her religious beliefs and allowed her to refer those patients wanting to receive emergency contraception, a.k.a. “the morning after pill,” or information about abortion to another nurse.

As a result of Turner’s personal commitment to providing quality health care to those in need, she also worked as a Maternity Case Manager, making house calls to women undergoing high-risk pregnancies and educating them on how to have a healthy pregnancy. However, in 1995, a new supervisor was appointed to the Women’s Clinic who declared herself to be pro-choice and allegedly acted in a manner intolerant of other viewpoints.

According to Turner, this new supervisor stated her expectation that everyone on staff discuss emergency contraception, or “the morning after pill,” with patients as “a method of contraception that will prevent a pregnancy,” and discouraged the nurses from discussing it as a possible abortifacient. Turner claims that her supervisor continually reiterated her distaste for Turner’s pro-life views regarding emergency contraception and repeatedly told her that she “was not a complete nurse.” During Turner’s final evaluation, the supervisor informed her that budget cuts would soon be forthcoming. She then warned Turner that her position could be cut in the department budget, and if Turner wanted another position in the department, she would have to be willing to dispense emergency contraception. Shortly thereafter, Turner was notified that her position was to be cut.

Among the allegations detailed in the complaint filed by Institute attorneys are charges that Turner was discriminated against for her religious beliefs, a violation of Title VII, the Hill/Burton Conscience Act and Oregon’s conscience clause.

“It is unconscionable for anyone to force their beliefs on another person, especially forcing a pro-abortion message on a person who believes that life begins at conception,” stated John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “What makes it even worse is that this was being done by an employer who was fully aware that she is in control of that person’s livelihood.”

The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
THE RUTHERFORD INSTITUTE
Charlottesville, Virginia.
General inquiries: tristaff@rutherford.org
Press Contacts: Nisha N. Mohammed Ph: (434) 978-3888, Pager: 800-946-4646, Pin #: 1478257

ACLJ Gets Legal Victory as Lawsuit Against K-Mart Involving Abortion Producing Drugs Moves Forward

News Release

American Center for Law and Justice

(Cincinnati, OH) — The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, said today a federal court has cleared the way for its lawsuit against Kmart on behalf of a pharmacist who was fired for refusing to dispense abortion producing drugs to move forward. A federal judge in the case refused to dismiss the suit and said that a pharmacist may sue her employer under a state conscience law which protects persons who refuse to perform or participate in medical procedures which result in abortion.

“This is a major victory for the rights of conscience,” said Francis J. Manion, Senior Counsel for the ACLJ who is suing Kmart on behalf of a pharmacist. “As long as abortion is legal in this country, there will be millions of citizens opposed to the practice on ethical and religious grounds. These people deserve legal protection to the fullest extent possible. No one should be forced to choose between their livelihood and their conscience. We look forward to moving forward with our case and the upcoming trial on this most critical issue.”

The case began in 1996 when Kmart fired Karen Brauer, an Indiana pharmacist, after she refused to dispense a drug called Micronor. Micronor, a progestin-only contraceptive, works in a significant number of patients by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg. According to Brauer, this means Micronor and similar drugs, rather than preventing pregnancy; terminate a human life that has already begun. Brauer was fired from Kmart’s Hamilton, Ohio store when she refused to sign an agreement that she would dispense all lawfully prescribed medications regardless of her feelings or beliefs. The ACLJ filed suit against Kmart in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati in August 1999.

Kmart went to court in an effort to dismiss the suit. But in an opinion issued yesterday and released to the ACLJ today, U.S. District Court Judge Herman Weber disagreed with Kmart’s narrow reading of the state conscience statute ruling the statute “is obviously intended to allow an individual who morally or ethically opposes abortion . . . to follow the dictates of her conscience and refuse to participate in such procedures.” The court likewise rejected Kmart’’s arguments that the legislature did not intend the conscience law to apply to the dispensing of a drug that sometimes prevents implantation. Judge Weber said: “What is critical . . . is the undisputed fact that Micronor does prevent implantation of a fertilized egg in some cases and plaintiff’s asserted belief that this process results in abortion and is morally wrong.”

Manion says the court’s decision is an important step in protecting the rights of employees who hold religious beliefs. “This case has enormous implications for the growing practice of chemical or drug-induced abortions. So-called ‘emergency contraceptives’, ‘morning-after pills,’ and RU-486 all work – not by preventing pregnancy – but by ending a human life already in existence. With the court’s recognition of a pharmacist’s statutory exemption from participating in such procedures, pharmacists and others have gained the ability to protect themselves against recrimination for following the dictates of their consciences.”

Manion said the court’s ruling now clears the way for trial to begin in May. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages against Kmart and alleges that her firing violated both federal and state laws. At the same time, the suit contends that as a result of Brauer’s termination, she “has sustained and continues to sustain substantial losses in earnings, retirement benefits, and other employment benefits, and has suffered and continues to suffer damage with regard to her professional standing.”

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm that focuses on constitutional issues including pro-family and pro-life cases.

Nurse dismissed over ‘morning after pill’

The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, today filed suit in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California on behalf of a health care worker charging that she was fired from her job as a nurse for Riverside County, California after she refused to dispense medication known as a “morning-after” pill designed to end pregnancies. See the ACLJ news release for details.

 

ACLJ files religious discrimination suit against Ca. health agency over “morning after” pill

News Release

American Center for Law and Justice

(Riverside, CA) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, today filed suit in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California on behalf of a health care worker charging that she was fired from her job as a nurse for Riverside County, California after she refused to dispense medication known as a “morning-after” pill designed to end  pregnancies.

“This case centers on the rights of our  client to hold religious beliefs and have those beliefs accommodated by her  employer,” said Frank Manion, Senior Regional Counsel of the ACLJ who is representing the nurse. “Our client did not want to dispense medication that she believes places her in a position to participate in an abortion. It is our position that her deeply held religious beliefs were ignored by her employer and it is our belief that she was wrongly fired because of those beliefs.”

The ACLJ filed suit today in U.S. District Court in Riverside on behalf of Michelle Diaz, who worked as a Clinic Health Nurse at the Riverside Neighborhood Health Center. The complaint contends that in March 1999, Diaz and other health professionals expressed their concerns to management about dispensing the so-called “morning-after” pill – medication designed to end pregnancies.  The lawsuit states that Diaz told her supervisor that her deeply held religious beliefs prevented her from distributing the medication because she believed she would be participating in an abortion.

The complaint contends that the Director of Public Health for Riverside County informed her that if she did not sign a document that required her to dispense what the county called “emergency contraception” which included the “morning-after” pill and other pregnancy-ending medications, she  would no longer be able to work at the clinic. Diaz did not sign the document and wrote a letter to the Director of Public Health explaining that her religious beliefs prevented her from doing so.

According to the suit, in June 1999, Diaz was contacted by news reporters concerning the “morning-after” pill controversy and explained her position to the media. The suit contends that on June 23, 1999 – just days after speaking with the media – she was told that she was being terminated.

“This case may represent a new kind of religious discrimination in the workplace as health care professionals strive to follow their consciences as they begin dispensing new pregnancy-ending drugs like RU-486,” said Manion. “A person’s religious beliefs must be respected and accommodated in the workplace. To do anything less is simply wrong and unconstitutional.”

The lawsuit contends that the action taken against Diaz violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution along with provisions in the California Constitution. The complaint contends the County violated her constitutional rights of free speech and violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by refusing to accommodate her religious beliefs and terminating her employment.

At the same time, the suit contends that Diaz has suffered and continues to suffer financial loss from the termination and damage to her  professional reputation. The suit requests that the court find the actions of the defendants illegal and unconstitutional and requests unspecified damages. The suit also requests a trial by jury.

The suit names as defendants the County of Riverside Health Services Agency, Kenneth Cohen, the Director of the Agency, and Dr. Gary Feldman, who serves as Director of Public Health and as the Public Health Officer for Riverside County.

The ACLJ is being assisted in this case by Robert Tyler of the firm, Tyler, Dorsa & Eldridge in Temecula, CA.

The American Center for Law and Justice is an  international public interest law firm that specializes in constitutional law and focuses on pro-life, pro-family, and pro-liberty issues. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA.