Memorial Sloan-Kettering wins dismissal of religious discrimination claims in vaccine mandate case

Client(s) Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Jones Day defended Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center against five former employees who alleged that Memorial Sloan-Kettering was liable under New York State and City Human Rights Laws for religious discrimination for failing to grant them religious exemptions to the vaccine mandate. In the motion to dismiss, Jones Day argued on behalf of Memorial Sloan-Kettering that Plaintiffs could not show that MSK’s actions were discrimination-based, and that accommodating Plaintiffs would have resulted in an undue hardship for Memorial Sloan-Kettering given New York’s statewide vaccine mandate in place at the time. The court agreed and granted the motion to dismiss in its entirety.

Cosma et. al. v Hochul et. al., No. 619480/23 (Sup. Ct., Nassau Cty.)