A Chattanooga woman who sued BlueCross BlueShield after she was fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine has been awarded $687,240 by a Federal Court jury.
The Chattanooga jury found that BlueCross “did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence either that it had offered a reasonable accommodation to Plaintiff or that it could not reasonably accommodate the Plaintiff’s religious beliefs without undue hardship.”
Tanja Benton was awarded $177,240 in back pay, $10,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages.
Ms. Benton worked at BlueCross, mainly as a statistical research scientist, from 2005 through her termination in November of 2021.
In her lawsuit, she said she did not regularly come into contact with people. She said she worked from home for a year and a half during the pandemic.
"We’re disappointed by the decision," said Dalya Qualls White, senior vice president and chief communications officer at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. "We believe our vaccine requirement was the best decision for our employees and members, and we believe our accommodation to the requirement complied with the law. We appreciate our former employees’ service to our members and communities throughout their time with our company."
A number of other terminated BlueCross employees have filed a class action suit on similar complaints.
Between October and November 2021, BlueCross terminated 41 of their employees after
implementing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for 900 "customer facing roles."
Judge Charles Atchley presided over the case.