Former Disney World Employees File Religious Discrimination Suit Over Vaccination and Masking Policies
suit, filed June 30 in a Florida court, Barbara Andreas, Stephen J. Cribb and Adam Pajer sought and were denied religious exemption from wearing masks and getting the vaccine.“When Plaintiffs each objected respectfully and consistently to Disney’s unlawful discrimination against them, Disney failed to remediate its actions contrary to law,” the complaint states. “Instead, Disney suspended and terminated Plaintiffs for ‘Speaking Up’ in accordance with law and Disney’s own company policy.”On July 30, 2021 – about a year after Walt Disney World Orlando reopened amid record cases in the state – Disney announced that all U.S.
employees were required to become fully vaccinated. On-site workers had 60 days to comply with what the suit calls a “vaccinate or terminate” policy.However, in late Nov.
2021, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blocked companies from enforcing vaccine mandates, prompting Disney to require unvaccinated on-site workers to mask and maintain social distance.The plaintiffs claim that Disney’s post-mandate policy was “a new discriminatory scheme that singled out” unimmunized employees and “irrationally feared” them as posing a danger to others.Plaintiff Barbara Andreas worked for the company for 17 years before she was allegedly terminated in March 2022.
In the filing, she asserted that wearing a mask represented “an affront” to her Christian beliefs, as did “participating in a medical experiment, such as COVID testing or vaccines.”Andreas claims that after several months, HR denied her religious exemption request and threatened to fire her if she would not comply with the masking policy.
