Advertising Material
Health Care Heroes Sue Ascension Health Inc. and
St. Vincent Hospital and Health Care Center, Inc. to Obtain Religious Exemptions from COVID Vaccine Mandate
Indianapolis – Five health care heroes who served their patients bravely, risking their lives throughout the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (when little was known about the COVID virus), filed a religious liberty lawsuit challenging the denial of their requests for religious exemptions from COVID vaccines. The doctor, nurse practitioner and three registered nurses are represented by attorneys William Bock and Adam Doerr of Kroger, Gardis & Regas, LLP (KGR).
These health care workers face loss of their jobs due to their religious beliefs that prevent them from using COVID vaccines that were developed and tested using fetal cell lines from aborted fetuses. The lawsuit has been filed against Ascension Health, Inc., one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers, and St. Vincent Hospital and Health Care Center, Inc., which operates hospitals in central Indiana.
The health care workers are asking the federal court to enter an injunction to prevent them from being fired and to require Ascension to grant religious exemptions as required by federal law so long as exemption of the workers will not impose undue hardship.
“Religious liberty is at the very core of the First Amendment and our freedoms in this country, we cannot afford to be less than vigilant in standing up for religious freedom,” said Bock. “We are proud to be standing with these men and women who daily risked their lives during the height of the pandemic when little was known about COVID. It’s like they were running into a burning building every day and it was their faith that gave them the strength to do that. The last thing we want to do is run heroes like that out of health care.”
Bock said the health care workers’ rights can be protected without undermining safety.
“These heroes were promised–and the law requires–the opportunity for exemptions for religious reasons. This lawsuit asks that they receive what they were promised and are entitled to under the law.”
The case has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and is pending before the Honorable James Patrick Hanlon, United States District Judge and the Honorable Mario Garcia, United States Magistrate Judge. The case is captioned Halczenko, et al. v. Ascension Health, Inc., No. 1:21-cv-02816-JPH-MG. The Plaintiffs are Dr. Paul Halczenko, Nurse Practitioner, Jennifer Jimenez, R.N. Erin Nicole Gillespie, R.N. Valerie Fralic and R.N. Kristin Evans.
If you are an employee of Ascension Health, Inc. or St. Vincent Hospital and Health Care Center, Inc. or any other Ascension affiliated entity and would like to receive further information about the lawsuit against Ascension please click here.
Please understand that a request for information on this website does not create an attorney-client relationship and you should not send confidential information via the form on this website. An attorney-client relationship shall only be formed in relation to this matter through an engagement letter signed by both the prospective client and a lawyer from KGR.
The foregoing statement is authorized by the law firm of Kroger, Gardis & Regas, LLP and may be considered Advertising Material within the meaning of Rule 7.3 of the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct. A copy of the foregoing communication has been filed with the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission prior to its publication.