A Christian nurse won a victory against CVS after the pharmacy chain fired her over her religious views.
According to the lawsuit, Robyn was fired by CVS MinuteClinic because of her religious beliefs. She sought a religious accommodation allowing her not to prescribe hormonal contraceptives because she believed that medication could end the life of an unborn child.
For six-and-a-half years, she operated under that religious accommodation. But in August 2021, MinuteClinic suddenly announced it would no longer allow religious accommodations for its nurse practitioners related to “pregnancy prevention services” across the country.
“First Liberty and our volunteer attorneys at Boyden Gray PLLC reached a settlement with CVS. This brings Robyn’s case to a favorable resolution after we filed suit in federal court last year on her behalf,” the group told LifeNews.
“We are thrilled that Robyn was able to reach a resolution with CVS,” said First Liberty Senior Counsel Stephanie Taub. “We are hopeful that companies across the country will recognize the religious liberty of their employees and work to protect those rights.”
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Jonathan Berry, Managing Partner at Boyden Gray PLLC and former head of rulemaking at the U.S. Department of Labor, added, “Respecting the religious beliefs of workers and providing reasonable accommodations is not optional under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. We are pleased for Robyn.”
After months of fighting in court, this is the start of a new chapter in life for Robyn.
Strader said she had been granted a religious exemption for six years permitting her to not prescribe contraceptives, and filed the lawsuit in January 2023 after having been fired following the policy change in 2021, according to the press release. First Liberty Institute, which represented Strader, announced Monday that CVS had agreed to a settlement of which the terms “were not made public.”
“We can confirm a settlement was reached. We are pleased that this matter has been resolved,” Mike DeAngelis, CVS executive director of corporate communications, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Strader had worked at a CVS Minute Clinic in Texas since 2015 and had been able to send patients requesting contraceptive services to another practitioner either at the same location or nearby, according to the lawsuit. She argued that the company had retaliated against her for her religious beliefs.
Strader’s lawsuit requested that CVS be stopped from enforcing its policy and provide “compensation for past and future pecuniary losses.”
“Respecting the religious beliefs of workers and providing reasonable accommodations is not optional under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. We are pleased for Robyn,” Jonathan Berry, a managing partner at Boyden Gray PLLC, which also represented Strader, said in the press release.
