Hospital’s denial of vaccine exemption upheld

An employee of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center didn’t want to get a flu vaccine and obtained a physician’s certification that exempted her from the requirement. Her employer’s internal exemption review committee denied the exemption, and when she continued her refusal to be vaccinated, she was terminated. Will the hospital be immunized from suit?

Which doctor knows best?

Deanna Hodges was an employee of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center from 2000 to 2017. As an administrative employee without direct patient contact, she was under no obligation to get a flu vaccine when she was hired or when she returned from cancer treatment in 2009. This changed in 2017 when Cedars announced a new policy requiring all employees, regardless of their role, to be vaccinated by the beginning of flu season. The expanded 2017 policy aligned with the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “that all U.S. health care workers get vaccinated annually against influenza.”

Cedars’ 2017 flu vaccination policy made exceptions only for employees establishing “a valid medical or religious exemption.” Employees who declined the vaccine “based on medical contraindication, per CDC guidelines” were required to submit an exemption request form completed by their physician for review by Cedars’ internal “Exemption Review Panel.”

Hodges didn’t want to get the flu vaccine and contacted her longtime physician for advice. She told him she feared side effects from the flu vaccine would be like those she experienced with chemotherapy. She was particularly afraid of needles.