I wonder if this will have legs?
Class Action Alleges AstraZeneca Engaged in 'Corporate Scheme' to Fire Older Unvaccinated Workers | Delaware Law Weekly
AstraZeneca engaged in purposeful age discrimination when it terminated several employees over 40 years old for holding religious objections to the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to a class action lawsuit filed against the company in Delaware’s federal court.
“The complaint alleges that AstraZeneca purposefully removed older and religious employees from its workforce. We look forward to seeking justice on their behalf,” Walker Moller, co-counsel for the plaintiffs at Siri & Glimstad, told Law.com.
Thomas S. Neuberger of The Neuberger Firm, along with co-counsel at Siri & Glimstad, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware on behalf of seven plaintiffs who were fired from AstraZeneca after they refused to comply with the company’s vaccine policy.
The lawsuit brought claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as well as Title II violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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“AstraZeneca prides itself as being a diverse and inclusive company. Recently, however, it became apparent to many AstraZeneca employees that “diversity” was not for everyone, and that AstraZeneca’s definition of “inclusion” necessarily entailed the exclusion of older employees who held certain religious beliefs,” the complaint stated. “In AstraZeneca’s workplace, all employees were equal, but some were more equal than others.”
The complaint further alleged that AstraZeneca “devised a strategy to eliminate older employees,” citing a 2021 sales presentation in which the company’s U.S. Director of Sales Mike Hartman said that the average age of AstraZeneca employees was around 48 and was “too high.” He allegedly emphasized how few of their employees were under age 30 and that the figure needed to increase, according to the complaint.
The plaintiffs worked for AstraZeneca for several years, with pharmaceutical sales representative Megan Small and sales specialist Robert Wilhoit working there for over 20 years.
The company required all workers to submit their vaccination status beginning around September 2021, the complaint said. Plaintiffs requested religious accommodations to the mandate and were terminated in late April 2022. According to Neuberger, AstraZeneca did not perform honest and good faith assessments of each religious exemption.
“Once employees submitted a request, canned follow-up questions were sent under the pretense of assessing the validity and sincerity of the employee’s religious beliefs,” the complaint stated. “Notably, Plaintiffs never directly engaged with any person who had reviewed their accommodations request, and no AstraZeneca employee ever questioned any plaintiff to discern the actual sincerity or religious nature of their beliefs.”
The complaint also called out AstraZeneca’s public image as conflicting with its actions in firing older religious workers, who had their natural immunity to COVID-19 ignored by their employer according to their attorneys.
“Although the company trumpets its commitment to following the science, AstraZeneca refused to recognize natural immunity as satisfying its immunization requirements for U.S. based employees,” the complaint said. ”This is despite the fact that the strength and durability of natural immunity has been observed through hundreds of years of research and is universally accepted as at least equivalent—but less profitable—to vaccine-based immunity.”
The complaint referred to the available COVID-19 vaccine treatments as “ineffective,” claiming that the company’s own business records showed that its vaccinated employees were contracting the virus “at very high rates.”
A representative for AstraZeneca could not be reached for comment.
Class Action Alleges AstraZeneca Engaged in 'Corporate Scheme' to Fire Older Unvaccinated Workers | Delaware Law Weekly
AstraZeneca engaged in purposeful age discrimination when it terminated several employees over 40 years old for holding religious objections to the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to a class action lawsuit filed against the company in Delaware’s federal court.
“The complaint alleges that AstraZeneca purposefully removed older and religious employees from its workforce. We look forward to seeking justice on their behalf,” Walker Moller, co-counsel for the plaintiffs at Siri & Glimstad, told Law.com.
Thomas S. Neuberger of The Neuberger Firm, along with co-counsel at Siri & Glimstad, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware on behalf of seven plaintiffs who were fired from AstraZeneca after they refused to comply with the company’s vaccine policy.
The lawsuit brought claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as well as Title II violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
Book
Employment Litigation
Employment Litigation provides in-depth procedural guidance on the field of employment law including litigation settlement. This book is a trove of proven strategies and...
View This Book
“AstraZeneca prides itself as being a diverse and inclusive company. Recently, however, it became apparent to many AstraZeneca employees that “diversity” was not for everyone, and that AstraZeneca’s definition of “inclusion” necessarily entailed the exclusion of older employees who held certain religious beliefs,” the complaint stated. “In AstraZeneca’s workplace, all employees were equal, but some were more equal than others.”
The complaint further alleged that AstraZeneca “devised a strategy to eliminate older employees,” citing a 2021 sales presentation in which the company’s U.S. Director of Sales Mike Hartman said that the average age of AstraZeneca employees was around 48 and was “too high.” He allegedly emphasized how few of their employees were under age 30 and that the figure needed to increase, according to the complaint.
The plaintiffs worked for AstraZeneca for several years, with pharmaceutical sales representative Megan Small and sales specialist Robert Wilhoit working there for over 20 years.
The company required all workers to submit their vaccination status beginning around September 2021, the complaint said. Plaintiffs requested religious accommodations to the mandate and were terminated in late April 2022. According to Neuberger, AstraZeneca did not perform honest and good faith assessments of each religious exemption.
“Once employees submitted a request, canned follow-up questions were sent under the pretense of assessing the validity and sincerity of the employee’s religious beliefs,” the complaint stated. “Notably, Plaintiffs never directly engaged with any person who had reviewed their accommodations request, and no AstraZeneca employee ever questioned any plaintiff to discern the actual sincerity or religious nature of their beliefs.”
The complaint also called out AstraZeneca’s public image as conflicting with its actions in firing older religious workers, who had their natural immunity to COVID-19 ignored by their employer according to their attorneys.
“Although the company trumpets its commitment to following the science, AstraZeneca refused to recognize natural immunity as satisfying its immunization requirements for U.S. based employees,” the complaint said. ”This is despite the fact that the strength and durability of natural immunity has been observed through hundreds of years of research and is universally accepted as at least equivalent—but less profitable—to vaccine-based immunity.”
The complaint referred to the available COVID-19 vaccine treatments as “ineffective,” claiming that the company’s own business records showed that its vaccinated employees were contracting the virus “at very high rates.”
A representative for AstraZeneca could not be reached for comment.