Appeals court reinstates religious-freedom lawsuit against Milton Hospital by office manager fired for refusing Covid-19 shots

A federal appeals court ruled yesterday a lower-court judge was too hasty in dismissing a lawsuit by a Milton Hospital employee who believes current Covid-19 vaccines are made from aborted fetuses and reinstated her claim against the hospital for firing her in 2022 for refusing to get vaccinated or provide her with alternative working conditions to shield her from the public and other hospital workers.

The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston emphasized this does not mean it necessarily buys Amanda Bazinet's argument that she adequately proved to the hospital that she had a legitimate religious reason for avoiding shots in the middle of a global pandemic or that the hospital failed to show that complying with her request would subject it to "undue hardship" - considerable harm or expense.

In its ruling, the three-judge panel concluded that Bazinet deserved more time to make her case - through "discovery" or in-depth pre-trial questioning of hospital officials and examination of documents related to the case on just why they rejected her 2021 request for an exemption.

They concluded that US District Court Judge Angel Kelley shouldn't have summarily dismissed her First Amendment claim when the hospital itself had not initially provided a detailed motion to do so and ordered her to resume the case at least until after the point both sides have provided more evidence and arguments for their cases - after which she could then rule on whether to dismiss the case again.

Whether Bazinet's religious discrimination claims will succeed or even survive summary judgment is uncertain. But these claims should have advanced past [the judge's decision to dismiss based on undue hardship].

The court also contrasted Bazinet's case with a similar one by healthcare workers in Maine, whose case was ultimately dismissed, in part because Maine state law, unlike Massachusetts law, did not allow for religious exemptions.

Bazinet initially sued the hospital on a total of five counts, including an allegation that the vaccine requirement was a form of assault and that the hospital was operating at the behest of the government to force vaccines that don't work into the arms of its employees. In December, Kelley initially dismissed all but the religious-freedom argument. In her appeal, Bazinet did not contest the dismissal of her other four arguments.

Bazinet is represented by Richard Chambers of Lynnfield, who has brought a number of Covid-19-related lawsuits, including a failed suit by a number of of anti-vaxxers in their failed suit against Boston over its three-month requirement to show proof of vaccination for admission to many indoor venue as well as a failed suit by four North End restaurant owners who charged Mayor Wu enacted fees for outdoor patios in the North End - an outgrowth of pandemic-related outdoor dining - because she hated white Italian men.