Public transport workers who lost their jobs because they did not receive Covid vaccinations will receive $1 million in compensation

Six former Bay Area Rapid Transit agency employees who lost their jobs because they did not receive a Covid vaccination for religious reasons have been awarded more than $1 million each, according to court documents related to a lawsuit filed by the California workers.

According to court documents, a federal jury awarded the six former BART employees between $1.1 million and more than $1.5 million each.

The verdicts were handed down Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The law firm Pacific Justice Institute, which represents the plaintiffs, said this in a statement on Thursday that BART failed to demonstrate “undue hardship in denying any accommodations to employees” who requested them on religious grounds.

Kevin Snider, who served as lead attorney, said the workers did not compromise their religious beliefs for their jobs.

“Railway employees chose to lose their livelihood rather than deny their faith,” he said in a statement. “That alone shows the sincerity and depth of their beliefs.”

One The plaintiffs had worked for BART for more than 30 years, including a decade of perfect attendance, their legal team said.

A BART representative declined to comment Friday afternoon.

A class action lawsuit filed in October 2022 said BART granted the vaccines religious exemptions for some, but denied such approval in each case. The failure to provide accommodations violated California law, according to the lawsuit Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Accommodations may include a change in work duties, granting medical leave, a change in work schedules, or a change in work area.

On Oct. 14, 2021, BART issued a policy requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated against Covid as a condition of employment, the lawsuit says.

Between then and February 2022, approximately 179 employees submitted requests for religious exemptions and 70 were approved, the lawsuit says. But none of the 70 who received waivers were granted housing, the lawsuit says.

However, one of three BART employees who requested a medical exemption was granted an accommodation, according to the lawsuit.

The employees who requested a religious exemption and then submitted a declaration of accommodation but ultimately refused the vaccine were either fired, forced to resign or retired, the lawsuit says.