Current:Home > MarketsMichigan jury awards millions to a woman fired after refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine -EquityExchange
Michigan jury awards millions to a woman fired after refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine
View
Date:2025-04-14 21:18:40
DETROIT (AP) — A jury awarded more than $12 million Friday to a woman who lost her job at a Michigan insurance company after declining to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
Much of the award — $10 million — is for punitive damages against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, according to the verdict form.
Lisa Domski, who worked at Blue Cross for more than 30 years, said she was a victim of religious discrimination. The company in 2021 did not grant an exemption from its vaccine policy, despite her insistence that it clashed with her Catholic beliefs.
Domski’s attorney, Jon Marko, said she worked 100% remotely as an IT specialist during the pandemic; 75% before COVID-19 hit in 2020.
Even without the vaccine, “she wasn’t a danger to anybody,” Marko said in an interview after the trial.
Besides punitive damages, the jury in Detroit federal court awarded Domski about $1.7 million in lost pay and $1 million in noneconomic damages.
Blue Cross denied any discrimination. In a court filing earlier in the case, the insurer said Domski lacked a sincerely held religious belief.
An appeal is possible. Blue Cross released a statement but didn’t make anyone available for comment.
“While Blue Cross respects the jury process and thanks the individual jurors for their service, we are disappointed in the verdict,” the health insurer said. “Blue Cross is reviewing its legal options and will determine its path forward in the coming days.”
veryGood! (69221)
Related
- New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
- American hiker found dead on South Africa’s Table Mountain
- Before you sign up for a store credit card, know what you’re getting into
- Colorado, Deion Sanders party after freak win vs. Baylor: `There's nothing like it'
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- Is there 'Manningcast' this week? When Peyton, Eli Manning's ESPN broadcast returns
- ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ scares off ‘Transformers’ for third week as box office No. 1
- Co-founder of Titan to testify before Coast Guard about submersible that imploded
- Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
- Antonio Pierce calls out Raiders players for making 'business decisions' in blowout loss
Ranking
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- Mack Brown's uneasy future has North Carolina leading college football's Week 4 Misery Index
- TCU coach Sonny Dykes ejected for two unsportsmanlike penalties in SMU rivalry game
- USC fumbling away win to Michigan leads college football Week 4 winners and losers
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- Chicago White Sox tie MLB record with 120th loss
- Selena Gomez addresses backlash after saying she can’t carry children: ‘I like to be honest’
- Mother of Georgia school shooting suspect indicted on elder abuse charges, report says
Recommendation
Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
New Federal Housing Grants Are a Win for Climate Change and Environmental Justice
Cincinnati Reds fire manager David Bell
Sister Wives' Janelle Brown Says Kody Brown and Robyn Brown Owe Her Money, Threatens Legal Action
Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
Defense calls Pennsylvania prosecutors’ case against woman in 2019 deaths of 2 children ‘conjecture’
New York City interim police commissioner says federal authorities searched his homes
Why Kristen Bell's Marriage to Polar Opposite Dax Shepard Works Despite Arguing Over Everything