A group of Pittsburgh Regional Transit employees and former employees filed a discrimination lawsuit in federal court Tuesday challenging the authority’s covid-19 vaccine mandate. The lawsuit, filed as a class action, seeks to represent not only employees who were terminated by PRT for failing to get vaccinated but also employees who claim they were forced to get vaccinated to keep their jobs.
The lawsuit includes claims for religious discrimination, violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and wrongful termination. It alleges that 75 employees were terminated for failing to be vaccinated and that their requests for religious or medical exemptions were summarily denied. PRT spokesman Adam Brandolph said 43 operators and 44 other employees lost their jobs for failing to get vaccinated.
Seven employees died from covid-19 before the vaccine mandate was implemented. None have died since, Brandolph said. He said he could not comment on pending litigation. In January, PRT announced the vaccine mandate and said that all employees were required to be vaccinated by March 15. The authority offered a process for employees to seek an exemption, but the lawsuit called that process an “exercise in futility.”