A nurse practitioner in Florida filed a federal lawsuit against CVS Health after the company terminated her employment after revoking a longstanding religious accommodation and her Catholic beliefs about hormonal contraceptives.
“After accommodating Gunna for several years, CVS fired her because it simply did not like her religious beliefs,” said Stephanie Taub, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute. “It is illegal to issue a blanket revocation of all religious accommodations when CVS can accommodate its employees. CVS is sending a message that religious health care workers are not welcome and need not apply.”
“Our employment laws protect religious freedom in the workplace,” added Jonathan Berry, Managing Partner at Boyden Gray PLLC and former head of rulemaking at the U.S. Department of Labor. “No one should have to choose between her faith and her job, especially where it would be easy to continue a longstanding religious accommodation.”
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According to the complaint, Gunna Kristofersdottir, a nurse practitioner employed by a CVS MinuteClinic in Tequesta, Florida, was granted a religious accommodation from prescribing contraception from 2014 to 2022.
On the rare occasion a patient asked for such a prescription, she referred them to another CVS MinuteClinic provider who satisfied the request.
In August 2021, CVS abruptly announced that it was revoking all religious accommodations that allowed providers to refrain from prescribing these drugs.
Kristofersdottir has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Iceland and a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Nevada. She has worked for over 20 years as a nurse practitioner. Prior to working for CVS, Ms. Kristofersdottir worked as a nurse practitioner for both the United States Air Force and Navy as well as for clinics located in Georgia and Oklahoma.
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In the complaint, attorneys state, “CVS could have accommodated Ms. Kristofersdottir in several ways, including by transferring her to a virtual position, a larger clinic, an education or training position, or a location specializing in COVID-19, or continuing to honor the religious accommodation that worked successfully for years. CVS’s policy of preemptively denying all such requests regardless of individual circumstances is unlawful and has a disparate impact on its employees on the basis of religion.”
In January 2023, First Liberty and Boyden Gray filed a similar federal lawsuit against CVS Health on behalf of Robyn Strader, a nurse practitioner in Texas.
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