The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled in favor of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in a case involving the termination of an employee who emailed state legislators opposing the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
On March 26, the court reversed a lower court’s decision, ruling that employees cannot claim retaliatory discharge based on the constitutional right to petition when it comes to private employers.
The former employee, who had worked at BCBS since 2014, argued she was fired in 2021 for exercising her right to petition public officials. After her request for a religious accommodation regarding the vaccine mandate was denied, she sent emails to lawmakers about the issue, which violated BCBS’ social media policy.
The Supreme Court clarified that the constitutional right to petition applies only to government entities, not private employers, so BCBS was within its rights to terminate the at-will employee for expressing personal political views.
“We appreciate the Tennessee Supreme Court’s consideration of our appeal, and we agree with the decision reached by the Court. We thank Ms. Smith for her service to BlueCross and wish her well,” Dalya Qualls White, BCBST’s SVP and chief communications officer, told Becker’s in a statement.
In February, a federal court in Tennessee upheld a jury’s decision in favor of a former BCBS Tennessee employee who filed a religious discrimination lawsuit after she was terminated for refusing to comply with the company’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate, confirming that the insurer must pay a total of more than $502,000 in damages.