An Essex County jury has awarded more than $670,000 to a former hospital groundskeeper who said he was fired after his request for a religious exemption from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate was denied.
Theodore “Teddy” DeBlasio, a longtime employee at the Essex County Hospital Center, sued Essex County after officials rejected his exemption request. According to his attorneys, the jury unanimously found that the county discriminated against him on the basis of religion.
Jury Finds in Favor of DeBlasio
DeBlasio worked as a groundskeeper at the hospital center, performing outdoor maintenance such as cutting grass, planting flowers, removing snow and raking leaves.
He argued that his objection to vaccination was based on sincerely held Christian religious beliefs concerning vaccines he believed had been tested or developed using fetal cell lines.
After hearing the case, the jury sided with DeBlasio and awarded him more than $670,000 for economic losses and emotional harm, according to Coyle Law Group, which represented him. Attorneys’ fees may be added separately.
Lawyers Allege Different Treatment of Religious Exemptions
One of the most significant claims presented by DeBlasio’s attorneys involved how Essex County handled requests from employees of different faiths.
His legal team said evidence presented at trial showed that Christian and Catholic employees had religious exemption requests denied while Muslim employees received exemptions.
The attorneys also argued that some unvaccinated employees who worked directly with patients were permitted to remain on the job under masking and testing requirements, while DeBlasio, whose work was primarily outdoors, was terminated.
Those details come from DeBlasio’s legal team and its description of the evidence presented at trial. The full trial record and Essex County’s detailed response to those specific allegations were not independently available in the reporting reviewed by NJ Radar.
Case Filed in New Jersey Superior Court
The case, DeBlasio v. Essex County, was filed in New Jersey Superior Court under docket number ESX-L-5665-22.
The dispute centered not simply on the existence of a COVID-19 vaccine requirement, but on whether Essex County applied its religious accommodation process in a discriminatory way to DeBlasio.
New Jersey law prohibits employment discrimination based on protected characteristics including religion or creed.
A Broader Question About Religious Accommodation
COVID-era vaccine mandates generated numerous legal challenges across the United States, particularly over how employers evaluated requests for religious accommodations.
Courts have generally distinguished between the legality of a vaccine mandate itself and whether an employer’s process for reviewing religious objections was applied fairly and consistently.
In this Essex County case, the jury’s verdict focused on DeBlasio’s individual discrimination claim rather than declaring COVID vaccine mandates broadly unlawful.
More Proceedings May Follow
According to DeBlasio’s attorneys, additional proceedings may still address attorneys’ fees and other potential damages.
His lawyers have described the verdict as New Jersey’s first jury verdict involving a COVID-19 religious exemption dispute, although that characterization has not yet been independently confirmed.
For now, the case stands as a significant New Jersey employment-law ruling involving religious accommodation and the implementation of workplace vaccine policies during the pandemic.
Sources: Shore News Network, Coyle Law Group, New Jersey Judiciary
By NJ RADAR Team