PITTSBURGH – An Allegheny County-based dental assistant with a pre-existing history of blood clotting disorders says the County terminated her from her employment, when she cited her medical condition as a reason to opt out of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
Stacey Poole filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on Oct. 24 versus Allegheny County and its Executive Rich Fitzgerald.
Prefacing the suit’s allegations was the backstory that Allegheny County and Fitzgerald instituted a mandate for County employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 1, 2021, or be terminated.
The plaintiffs adds that despite the County’s measure, at no time did the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania require its employees to be vaccinated as a condition of employment – nor was there an option to get tested in lieu of vaccination, a recognition of natural immunity and neither remote employees nor those who could easily work outside, were provided exemptions.
“Plaintiff has dedicated her career to serving the citizens of Allegheny County. Plaintiff worked as a dental assistant and was wrongfully terminated on Dec. 11, 2021. Defendants herein wrongfully and with willful and reckless indifference to plaintiff’s rights terminated her employment, which conduct was egregious and thus warrants an award of punitive damages. In response to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, plaintiff told her employer about her Factor 5 blood clotting disorder and how she was afraid the vaccine, known to cause clotting, could cause her serious injury and/or death,” the suit states.
“At no time did defendant ever engage in any meaningful interactive process with plaintiff to determine whether there existed any reasonable accommodations for her medical condition. It is believed and therefore averred that the defendant never had any intention of granting plaintiff’s medical exemption. Rather, the defendant’s intention was to deny all or as many exemptions as possible and force all of its workforce to be vaccinated. Defendant simply manufactured a sham exemption procedure, pretended to listen at plaintiff’s Loudermill hearing then sent a template, fill-in the blank letter denying her exemption.”
The suit continues that the defendant “had supplied plaintiff with reasonable accommodations in the form of personal protection equipment, social distancing and/or sanitizing throughout the pandemic” and in addition, “weekly testing was required…these reasonable accommodations suddenly became an undue hardship when the vaccine mandate was put into place on Dec. 1, 2021 and defendant does not require visitors in its facility to be vaccinated.”
“Respondent was allowed to continue to work until Dec. 11, 2021. On that day, defendant informed plaintiff that she was immediately terminated. Her termination was solely due to her unvaccinated status. Defendant perceived plaintiff as disabled due to her unvaccinated status. Defendant failed to respond to her request for a medical exemption due to her clotting history. Plaintiff offered to continue to use the reasonable accommodations listed above in lieu of getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Defendant ignored these requests and plaintiff was terminated. Defendant’s sole reason given for denying plaintiff’s medical exemption was it would create an undue hardship on Allegheny County. At no time did defendant, Allegheny County, ever explain the reasons granting a medical exemption was an undue hardship. It is believed and therefore averred, that defendant never even had a doctor review plaintiff’s request for medical exemption for her clotting concerns,” the suit says.
“It is believed and therefore averred, that defendant engaged in a policy of a blanket denial of all requests for medical exemptions and instead claiming undue hardship as defendant’s goal was to seek 100% vaccination of all its employees and to purge its payroll of the unvaccinated for defendant’s financial gain. Plaintiff requested that the wearing of a mask and his or her consent to submit to COVID-19 testing at any time, be approved as a reasonable accommodation to receiving the COVID-19 vaccines because of her medical condition precluding the imposition of the vaccines. The aforesaid accommodations were reasonable because the OSHA rules regarding workplace vaccine mandates provided those precise accommodations for employees whose sincerely-held religious beliefs precluding imposition of COVID-19 vaccination.”
The suit adds that “despite plaintiff’s request for accommodation of her medical condition, defendant refused to accommodate plaintiff, defendant failed to engage in the interactive process with plaintiff, defendant did not offer an alternative accommodation to plaintiff’s requests other than discharge and rather, in a form letter, defendant simply fired plaintiff because the accommodation would cause an undue hardship.”
For multiple counts of violating the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Allegheny County’s Home Rule Charter, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and wrongful discharge, the plaintiff is seeking the following relief:
• Compensatory damages, including lost wages, employment benefits, back pay, interest, reinstatement and any and all other pecuniary damages for violation of their rights and for the injuries they has suffered as a result of defendant’s conduct;
• Pre-judgment and post-judgment interest;
• Costs of this action, including reasonable attorney’s fees and reasonable expert witness fees; and
• Such further relief as this Court may deem, just, proper and equitable and as permitted by law.
The plaintiff is represented by James L. Welsh III of the Welsh Law Group, in Murrysville.
The defendants have not yet obtained legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case 2:23-cv-01843
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com