Raytheon Hit with Class Action Over COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Five former employees have filed a proposed class action against Raytheon Technologies Corporation over the federal contractor’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. 

The 17-page case alleges the former employees were subjected to “discriminatory policies that substantially burdened their ability to exercise religious freedom by announcing, dictating and mandating that they receive a medical procedure, which insulted and violated their strongly held religious beliefs.” 

The suit says that although Raytheon “reluctantly” granted “a handful” of religious and medical exemptions for some workers, there were “significant caveats attached,” including a waiver of medical privacy rights, as the company “intended to release all medical data to a 3rd party.” 

According to the complaint, Raytheon “willfully discriminated” against certain employees on the basis of disability and/or religious beliefs, and “engaged in patterns and practices designed to coerce, manipulate, [and] ostracize them.” 

Raytheon announced via email blast and a video message from its CEO around September 15, 2021 that it would implement a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy and require all workers to receive the vaccine and disclose their vaccination status, the case says. The plaintiffs “refused to submit for varying medical and religious beliefs to the experimental medical procedure that may have derived its cell line from aborted fetal tissues,” the lawsuit states. 

“Defendants possessed multiple less restrictive methods of mitigating the spread of COVID-19, including masking, remote teleworking, physical distancing, and voluntary testing of all symptomatic employees,” the suit says. 

Many of the plaintiffs claim to have acquired “natural immunity” to COVID-19 due to possessing antibodies after having contracted and recovered from the virus. 

According to the lawsuit, each plaintiff experienced a hostile work environment in the form of being subjected to “frequent homepage banners and emails reminding them to submit their vaccine status, [and] threatening termination for non-compliance.” 

“Plaintiffs do not believe that staying true to their faith meant exposing themselves or others to unnecessary risk,” the suit says. “They view life, both their own and that of their fellow man as sacred and deserving of the utmost protection.” 

The plaintiffs argue that if Raytheon’s true goal was the health of workers and a safe environment, “forcing weight loss and smoking cessation would have better served the purpose as obesity and hypertension were the most prevalent co-morbidities associated with the virus.”

The plaintiffs’ respective separations from Raytheon, including some voluntary resignations, came while the vaccine mandate for federal contractors was stayed, the suit says.

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.