FFLC Files Federal Lawsuit over Title VII Religious Discrimination

Last week, the Founding Freedoms Law Center (FFLC) filed an important lawsuit in the Eastern District Court of Virginia on behalf of Robert Jacoby, a conscientious husband and father who was wrongfully terminated by his employer for not taking the COVID shot because it violated his religious beliefs.  Even though Mr. Jacoby worked 100% remotely and had a long and stellar employment history, his former employer refused to accommodate his religious convictions, despite being required by law to do so.

Now Mr. Jacoby has engaged FFLC to vindicate his right to religious exercise, and that’s exactly what we intend to do.  With impeccable timing, our already strong case has been strengthened even more by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Groff v. DeJoy, which significantly reinforced employees’ federal rights against religious discrimination under “Title VII,” the very law at issue in our case.  We intend to take full advantage of the Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion to benefit Mr. Jacoby and many other Virginians.

Sadly, Robert Jacoby’s case is emblematic of countless others who have lost their jobs or freedom over the past few years because of their faith.  We know because we have heard from and advised many of them.  We already filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against UVA Health Systems for religious discrimination against hundreds of healthcare workers who were unlawfully terminated.  Meanwhile, tens of thousands have benefited from the various resources on our website we created to help employees, students, and parents through many of these issues.  And in many ways, we are just getting started.

If you or someone you know in Virginia is experiencing religious discrimination of any kind, please feel free to reach out to our attorneys, or visit our website to access and share our free legal resources.

None of this would be possible without your support, so we thank you!  In the meantime, stay tuned for more updates on Robert Jacoby’s case and others whose fundamental rights we are daily fighting for.