EEOC Found “Reasonable Cause” to Believe Healthcare Giant Violated Federal Law Requiring Religious Accommodations

ATLANTA, GA – A decorated registered nurse with 23 years of service has filed a federal lawsuit against Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia, Inc. (“Kaiser”), alleging the healthcare provider unlawfully fired her for her sincerely held religious beliefs. The complaint, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, details how Kaiser terminated Susan J. Richey after denying her a religious accommodation from its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, despite the fact that she worked entirely from home and had no physical contact with patients or coworkers.

According to the complaint, Ms. Richey, a lifelong practicing Christian, had worked for Kaiser since 1999 and spent the last four years of her career as a fully remote Telephonic Advice Nurse. When Kaiser instituted its vaccine mandate, she requested a religious exemption based on her beliefs regarding the sanctity of life and the use of fetal cell lines in vaccine development.

Kaiser initially granted Ms. Richey’s request on September 29, 2021, only to inexplicably rescind the approval three weeks later. The company then suspended her without pay before terminating her employment on January 10, 2022. The lawsuit follows an extensive investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which found “reasonable cause to believe” that Kaiser’s actions violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The lawsuit alleges that Kaiser’s actions were particularly egregious given that Ms. Richey’s remote position posed zero risk to public health or company operations. The complaint asserts that Kaiser failed to engage in the required interactive process and terminated a veteran employee for her faith, despite a readily available and reasonable accommodation.

The suit seeks a declaratory judgment that Kaiser’s actions were unlawful, along with reinstatement, back pay, and compensatory and punitive damages for the emotional and financial harm Ms. Richey has suffered.

Richey is represented by Civil Rights Attorney Arnold Lizana (Law Offices of Arnold J Lizana III).

Lizana commented, “This is a case about a healthcare giant choosing to fire a dedicated, long-term employee rather than provide a simple, no-cost accommodation. Kaiser can’t claim that allowing a fully remote nurse to continue working from home would cause any ‘undue hardship.’ They approved her accommodation and then arbitrarily reversed course, and the EEOC’s finding validates our claim that this was unlawful discrimination, plain and simple.”

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Commission experienced a surge in religious accommodation charges (over 10,000) due to vaccine mandates, recovering millions for workers. The agency reported recovering over $55 million for impacted workers by August 2025.

Click HERE to view the lawsuit.

###