CVS nurse fired after refusing to prescribe birth control over religious beliefs sues pharmacy
Texas nurse practitioner says CVS violated religious protections under Title VII of Civil Rights Act
A former nurse practitioner for a CVS Health Corp clinic claimed discrimination in a suit filed Wednesday after she had been fired for refusing to prescribe birth control, as it violated her personal religious beliefs
J. Robyn Strader filed the lawsuit in a Fort Worth, Texas, federal court and said that her refusal to prescribe birth control due to her Baptist beliefs had been accommodated for six years before CVS changed its policy.
Strader accused her former employer of violating religious protections in the workplace guaranteed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
CVS Pharmacy, pharmacist counter, pick up consultation window. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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The federal law requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for their employees' religious beliefs and forbids workplace discrimination.
Fox News Digital could not immediately reach CVS for comment.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVS | CVS HEALTH CORP. | 56.88 | +0.06 | +0.10% |
According to an email statement provided to Reuters by CVS spokesperson Mike DeAngeles, "educating and treating patients regarding sexual health matters, including pregnancy prevention," had been deemed "essential." Therefore, employees could not be exempt from providing patients with those services.
FILE - A one-month dosage of hormonal birth control pills is displayed in Sacramento, Calif., Aug. 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli / AP Newsroom)
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"An employer cannot sidestep Title VII's requirement to accommodate religious employees by merely labeling a particular function 'essential,’" Strader said in her lawsuit.
READ THE STRADER COMPLAINT: APP USERS, CLICK HERE:
Strader suggested that she could have been moved to another position, like a clinic that only administered vaccines, as she had been largely responsible for providing children with vaccines and dealing with illnesses prior to her removal.
When Strader was approached with providing a patient with birth control she would refer the patient to a fellow nurse practitioner or to a nearby clinic.
A CVS Pharmacy is shown in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania. (AP/Gene J. Puskar / AP Images)
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The suit has reportedly been handed over to U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, a Trump appointed federal judge.
CVS is also facing two other lawsuits from former employees in Kansas and Virginia, who said they had. been terminated over the same policy.