Religious discrimination suit involving flu shot is settled

OWOSSO, Mich. – A mid-Michigan health care system has agreed to pay almost $75,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of a job candidate who was passed over because her beliefs preclude her from getting flu shots.

The Lansing State Journal reports the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says Memorial Healthcare of Owosso rescinded its job offer for a medical transcriptionist position after learning of Yvonne Bair’s Christian beliefs. Court records say Bair believed she must use “natural methods” for health.

Memorial Healthcare President and CEO Brian Long says in a statement it resolved the lawsuit “because it was no longer worth the time, cost and energy to defend it.”

The commission argued the hospital violated the federal Civil Rights Act and discriminated against her because of her religion.

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Information from: Lansing State Journal, http://www.lansingstatejournal.com