Saint Thomas faces EEOC suit

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is accusing Saint Thomas Health’s Murfreesboro hospital of violating civil rights laws by requiring an employee of a vendor to have a flu shot over his religious beliefs.

In a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, the EEOC says Saint Thomas had in 2013 and 2014 accommodated the wishes of the employee of food and environmental services provider TouchPoint Support Services. But a year later, Saint Thomas Murfreesboro officials denied his request to forego the shot (and instead use a protective mask) and said he could no longer work at the facility without it. The agency is calling for the health system to pay back wages as well as damages.