A former employee for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) has been awarded $12 million by the courts after being fired for refusing the COVID vaccine in 2021. Lisa Domski had worked at the company for 30 years as an IT specialist when the company required its employees to receive the COVID vaccine in 2021 during the pandemic. Domski, who is Catholic, stated the mandate was in violation of her Catholic faith and requested a religious exemption. The company denied her request and Domski was fired for her continued refusal. The court awarded Domski $10 million in punitive wages, $1.7 million for lost wages, and $1 million in “noneconomic” damages.

Domski’s lawyer, Jon Marko, celebrating the victory, pointed out that Domski had worked mainly remotely even before the pandemic, meaning she posed no threat to her fellow workers. “Our forefathers fought and died for the freedom for each American to practice his or her own religion. Neither the government nor a corporation has a right to force an individual to choose between his or her career and conscience. Lisa refused to renounce her faith and beliefs and was wrongfully terminated from the only job she had ever known,” he said. “The jury’s verdict today tells BCBSM that religious discrimination has no place in America and affirms each person’s right to religious freedom.”

BCBSM has denied any religious discrimination against Domski, stating it doubted whether her refusal was due to a sincerely held religious belief. “In implementing the vaccine policy, Blue Cross designed an accommodation process that complied with state and federal law and respected the sincerely held religious beliefs of its employees,” it said in a statement. “While Blue Cross respects the jury process and thanks the individual jurors for their service, we are disappointed in the verdict. Blue Cross is reviewing its legal options and will determine its path forward in the coming days.”

Domski is just another former employee in a series of recent court cases that have ruled in favor of employees fired for refusing the COVID vaccine. In June, a federal jury awarded a woman $687,000 to a Chattanooga woman who was fired from Blue Cross Blue Shield Tennessee after refusing the vaccine on religious grounds. A San Francisco federal jury recently ruled in favor of six public transit workers who had refused the vaccine, awarding each $1 million. The success of these cases may be in part due to the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling which increased the standard for a company to prove “an undue hardship” in complying with an employee’s religious exemptions. Marko himself is representing 170 other plaintiffs in similar cases against BCBSM.