A Christian nurse practitioner in Texas who sued for wrongful dismissal has reached a confidential settlement with America’s biggest pharmacy chain CVS. Robyn Strader had worked at a Forth Worth CVS MinuteClinic outlet for six years from 2015 under a religious accommodation which excused her from prescribing contraceptive pills..
Christian legal advocate First Liberty Institute which represented Ms. Strader wrote: “On the few occasions someone requested such a prescription from her, she would simply refer them to another nurse practitioner at her location or to another CVS MinuteClinic located two miles away. No one ever complained.”
“But in August 2021, CVS announced that it would no longer honour religious accommodations related to pregnancy prevention services regardless of circumstances. Suddenly, CVS said it’s too much of a burden to accommodate Robyn. Subsequently, it ignored the three letters she sent asking for a religious accommodation and claimed that accommodating her would cause CVS an undue hardship. Then [CVS] terminated Robyn for not prescribing contraceptives,” the legal firm continued.
First Liberty and another law firm Boyden Gray filed a charge of discrimination with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against CVS Pharmacy for their action against Ms. Strader. According to documents filed with the EEOC, Ms. Strader’s manager repeatedly pressured her to change her beliefs. The company added that it considers the prescribing of abortion drugs an “essential service.”
First Liberty pointed out Ms. Strader has an extensive background in health care and education. She taught science at high school and pre-professional levels and has multiple degrees including a PhD in Health Education and an MBA. The Christian legal advocate observed: “It’s bad medicine to force religious health care professionals like Robyn to choose between their faith and their job, especially at a time when we need as many health care professionals as we can get.”
The nurse practitioner said at the time: “I am a Christian and a longtime member of a Baptist Church. I believe that all human life is created in God’s image and should be protected. For this reason, I cannot participate in facilitating an abortion or participate in facilitating contraceptive use that could prevent the implantation of an embryo, cause an abortion, or contribute to infertility.”
“After accommodating Robyn for six and a half years without a single complaint, CVS fired her because it simply did not like her pro-life religious beliefs. It is illegal to issue a blanket revocation of all religious accommodations when it is so easy for CVS to accommodate its employees. CVS is sending a message that religious health care workers are not welcome and need not apply,” said First Liberty counsel Christine Pratt.
Jonathan Berry, partner at Boyden Gray which also represented Ms. Strader said: “Our employment laws protect religious freedom in the workplace. No one should have to choose between her faith and her job, especially where it would be easy to continue a longstanding religious accommodation.”
Both law firms welcomed the settlement which was reached this month. No terms were disclosed. CVS Health’s executive director of Corporate Communications Mike DeAngelis responded: “While we are not able to comment on a specific complaint pending in litigation, we have a well-defined process in place for employees to request and be granted a reasonable accommodation due to their religious beliefs, unless it poses an undue hardship on the business and our ability to provide convenient, accessible care to our patients.”
Image: First Liberty Institute
