Acts Retirement–Life Communities, one of the largest senior living operators in the country (located at 420 Delaware Drive in Fort Washington), has won a religious bias lawsuit brought by four former employees after they were fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, McKnight’s Senior Living reported.
In 2021, Acts announced a companywide COVID-19 vaccine mandate for those employees. Under the mandate, the employment of workers who remained unvaccinated after October 31, 2021, would be terminated, subject to limited exemptions for religious or medical reasons.
Four former employees of Westminster Village in Spanish Fort, Alabama, alleged religious discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and a hostile work environment in a federal lawsuit in 2022. Parent companies Act Retirement–Life and Presbyterian Retirement Corp., the owner and operator of Westminster Village, also were named in the lawsuit.
The four former workers said that they “possess sincere religious beliefs that their body is a temple” and that they should not be inoculated or compelled to be inoculated with any “experimental foreign substance or biological / medical materials that will alter the aspects of their human body.”
In the suit, they alleged that Acts failed to reasonably accommodate their religious beliefs under Title VII. Acts countered that it was a religious organization not subject to liability for religious discrimination, that the plaintiffs did not hold sincere religious beliefs against the vaccine, and that the employees’ exemption requests created an undue hardship for the company.
A judge wrote that Acts was founded by a church—the Church of the Open Door—as a Christian organization to serve the health and spiritual needs of older adults. Although Acts no longer is financially supported or managed by the founding church, the company adheres to the original Christian mission in word and practice, the judge said, adding that Acts requires its directors and employees to adhere to that mission in addressing the spiritual and health needs of its residents.
“The law declares that such an organization is exempt from religious discrimination claims under Title VII,” the judge wrote.
“The health and safety of our residents, team members and communities is always top priority for the Acts organization, as it was during the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” an Acts spokesman told McKnight’s Senior Living. “We remain committed to treating all individuals with respect and fairness while upholding our mission to provide exceptional service to those we serve.”
Acts was ranked third on the 2024 LeadingAge Ziegler 200 list of largest not-for-profit multi-site senior living organizations, having more than 10,000 total units. The company has more than 7,000 employees, according to its website.
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