Six United Airlines employees sued the carrier for their vaccine mandate. According to the lawsuit, the carrier offered the six United Airlines employees six years of unpaid leave if they refused vaccination.
According to Mark Paoletta, a lawyer at Schaerr-Jaffe representing the United employees, “We filed this lawsuit to protect the rights of honest, hardworking United employees who have religious or medical reasons not to receive the COVID19 vaccine”. Paoletta also calls United’s vaccine policy a “draconian mandate”.
United Airlines announced last month that unvaccinated employees will need to get the vaccine by September 27. Also, the airline agreed to make an exception for medical and religious reasons.
Customer-facing employees including gate agents, pilots, and flight attendants exempted from taking the vaccine will face indefinite leave starting October 2. In a memo, United employees who didn’t get the vaccine will only return once the pandemic “meaningfully recedes”.
Things are a bit different for employees who don’t deal with passengers. This includes baggage handlers and mechanics. Those who will refuse to get vaccinated under medical or religious exemptions will also be put on leave. However, the unpaid leave will only take effect once United came up with weekly testing and mandatory mask-wearing policy for them.
United’s spokesperson said that “more than 97% of our US employees are vaccinated”. The spokesperson also said that they are reviewing the lawsuit filed by six United Airlines employees. However, the airline spokesperson said that “we think it’s without merit”.
According to the United employees’ lawyers, United should accommodate employees according to the Civil Rights Act. This includes a mask requirement and testing for unvaccinated employees.
Paoletta said that “This is not about how effective the vaccines are or whether United may mandate vaccination”. He added that “The fact is that some people have sincere religious objections to the COVID19 vaccine, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to respect and accommodate those beliefs”.
United’s CEO Scott Kirby said that only a small number of employees quit over the vaccine mandate. He said that it was in the “single digit”. Kirby expects “to have more by the time it finishes”. However, he remains positive that “it’s going to be a very low number that ultimately choose to leave”.
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