A woman has filed a lawsuit accusing Honeywell International of religious discrimination and disparate treatment.
Blair Lamendola filed her complaint in federal court alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
According to the complaint, Honeywell's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which was implemented in December 2021, violated Lamendola's religious beliefs as a Christian. While Honeywell provided exemption request documents, she says it obstructed certain employees from receiving reasonable accommodations from the vaccine mandate.
Despite initially granting Lamendola's religious exemption request, Honeywell later rescinded it and terminated her employment on the grounds that her stated religious beliefs were inconsistent with other responses in her exemption request. Lamendola argues that there were numerous low-cost and no-cost accommodation options available that Honeywell could have offered to her instead of insisting she violate her religious beliefs or be terminated.
At the time Honeywell instituted its mandate, Lamendola says employees were successfully working within mitigation protocols such as masking, social distancing and COVID-19 testing. Lamendola believes she could have continued her career while upholding her religious beliefs at minimal or no cost to Honeywell.
The lawsuit further criticizes Honeywell for ignoring scientific evidence suggesting that vaccines do not prevent transmission or infection and for choosing to terminate some religious employees who declined to receive a vaccine.