Fight for Workers Freedom Continues
In a two-day Preliminary Injunction hearing, six UT-Battelle (UT-B) employees represented over 100 employees in Judge Atchley’s 6th District Federal court in Knoxville. At the heart of their complaint was UT-Battelle’s unreasonable treatment of approved religious and medical accommodations. Contrary to some reports, these 100+ employees were fighting for the ability to keep working under the same safety guidelines they had throughout the pandemic. Simply put, they were not fighting the vaccine mandate but for the ability to keep working. UT-Battelle’s position was that putting over 100 employees on unpaid leave before the upcoming holidays was “the only reasonable” accommodation UT-B would provide for these approved employees.
Judge Atchley ultimately denied the Preliminary Injunction stating that the merits of irreparable harm, a requirement for a Preliminary Injunction, were not met in the court’s eyes. In essence, UT-Battelle may be wrong in their treatment of employees, but that the impact of UT-B’s actions “may be recovered through monetary damages”. Judge Atchley further states in his summary that,
“it is difficult to view its treatment of employees as thoughtful or prudent… Regardless of the result of such findings, it is hard to fathom that conducting more individualized assessments was untenable for an entity with the resources of UT-Battelle. In this regard, Defendant’s decisions reflect a shocking indifference to some of its employees. These employees deserve better, as does everyone associated with UT-Battelle.”
Judge Atchley’s full order can be viewed below.
Order-Denying-Motuon-for-Preliminary-Injunction-2021.10.29226In an update on their GiveSendGo website, the UT-Battelle employees responded to the ruling saying “We were unable to demonstrate irreparable harm, however Judge Atchley’s conclusion increases our confidence that UT-Battelle violated our rights. We will continue the fight for these rights.” https://givesendgo.com/utbdiscriminates
