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Former Princeton University employee Kate McKinley filed a lawsuit against the University for its failure to accommodate her religious objections to various COVID-19 policies. She claims the University fired her as retaliation for a religious discrimination complaint she filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In April 2021, Princeton University announced that it would require all students to be fully vaccinated by August 1st if they intended to be present on campus for the 2021-2022 academic year. In June 2021, the University announced that it was extending the same vaccination requirement to “all faculty, staff, researchers, appointed visiting faculty and researchers, temporary employees, and independent contractors (i.e., individuals working alongside with or providing services to students and employees).”
The lawsuit notes that McKinley was hired by Princeton University as a Budget Analyst in 2017. In July 2021, the University granted McKinley a religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine requirement. In August, McKinley requested a religious exemption from several other of the University’s COVID-19 policies, specifically mandatory masking, digital contact tracing via a Princeton University app, and asymptomatic testing, which required submitting weekly saliva samples. In September, the request for additional accommodations was denied. McKinley then filed a a complaint of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Later that month, she was terminated as an employee.
McKinley alleges that the University discriminated against her on the basis of religion and further retaliated against her by terminating her employment. She claims the institution thereby violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
The lawsuit further alleges that the mandatory asymptomatic testing violated the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which prevents employers from discharging an employee due to “genetic information,” defined as including an “individual’s genetic tests.”
Princeton University’s Equal Opportunity Policy 2021 affirms that the University will not discriminate on the basis of religion or genetic information: “the University is committed to the principle of not discriminating against individuals on the basis of personal beliefs or characteristics such as political views, religion, national or ethnic origin, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, marital or domestic partnership status, veteran status, disability, genetic information and/or other characteristics protected by applicable law unrelated to job or program requirements.”
McKinley’s attorney David Cassidy commented to The Princeton Tory that “My client was working from home when [she] was fired and had been working from home since March 13, 2020.”
McKinley is demanding a jury trial and seeking the award of monetary damages.
University representative Ayana Okoya provided the following statement to The Princeton Tory: “The University handled this former employee’s accommodation request fairly, appropriately and in accordance with the applicable laws and internal policies. We intend to defend the litigation vigorously and expect to vindicate our actions in court.”
University Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss has provided the same quote to other news outlets.
The University did not respond directly to questions about whether faculty and staff are entitled to exemptions, what constitutes the criteria for evaluating whether to grant an exemption, or what University body grants exemptions. Additionally, the University did not respond to inquiries about McKinley’s claim that the mandatory weekly saliva samples violated the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, or whether pushback from University members was a significant factor in the recent decision to no longer require asymptomatic testing for students and employees during the upcoming 2022-2023 academic year.
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