(RNS) — A former CVS Health employee filed a federal lawsuit in Florida against the company after she was fired for refusing to prescribe contraceptives due to her religious beliefs.
The employee, nurse practitioner Gunna Kristofersdottir, joins three other former CVS workers who sued the company for religious discrimination after being fired for similar reasons.
Kristofersdottir is being represented by the religious freedom-oriented legal group First Liberty Institute. Its lawyers argue that the company’s refusal to exempt religious employees from filling contraceptive prescriptions constitutes religion-based discrimination and a Title VII violation.
The Title VII law of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects employees and job applicants from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
“It’s important that nurse practitioners are able to serve their patients in a way that doesn’t require them to violate their religious beliefs,” said Stephanie Taub, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute.
A Roman Catholic, Kristofersdottir believes “the procreative potential of intercourse” shouldn’t be “subverted by the device or procedure,” according to the complaint filed by First Liberty this month. The court document quotes portions of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which summarizes the Catholic Church’s doctrine.
During her eight years at various Florida CVS clinics, Kristofersdottir benefited from a religious accommodation. After informing her managers of her wishes and filling out a form, she was excused from prescribing hormonal contraceptives and abortion drugs. When clients asked Kristofersdottir for guidance on contraceptive products, she referred them to another employee.
But three years ago, her religious accommodation was revoked as part of a broader change in the company’s policy on religious exemptions.
In August 2021, CVS’ chief nursing officer, Angela Patterson, announced that all employees would be required to perform functions deemed essential, including all services related to sexual health.
When Kristofersdottir learned about the new policy, she said, she asked to be sent to another CVS Health facility. Her demand was denied, and she was fired in March 2022.
Taub argued that the company had legal obligations to explore alternatives to accommodate Kristofersdottir.
In an email statement, Mike DeAngelis, CVS Health’s director of communications, wrote that the company still has a specific policy to grant “reasonable” religious accommodations “unless it poses an undue hardship on the business and our ability to provide convenient, accessible care to our patient.”
