An additional 153 employees at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) were placed on leave without pay or are using vacation pay because they obtained a religious exemption, the lawsuit says. Twenty-six employees were granted medical exemptions.
The lab employs nearly 14,000 workers. Two-thirds of all the work at the facility is focused on weapons programs. Nearly one in five of the employees at the lab hold Ph.D. degrees. Triad National Security LLC operates the complex as a contractor for the federal government.
A month later, on Sept. 20, LANL President Thomas Mason said an additional 1,000 employees had been vaccinated.
LANL officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit filed on Oct. 22 listed eight of the 153 employees who were placed on leave due to having received a religious exemption from the vaccine mandate.
“Defendants have approved religious exemptions for some employees, including plaintiffs and others not before the Court, but have given with one hand and then taken back with the other by imposing a blanket, one-size-fits-all accommodation that places those employees for whom a religious exemption has been granted on indefinite leave without pay and stripping them of their benefits,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants’ actions amount to a constructive termination.”
Employees with religious exemptions were told on Sept. 9 that they would be placed on unpaid leave or “may use vacation leave until an accommodation that will not unduly burden the laboratory or other employees has been identified,” according to a directive cited in the lawsuit.
On Sept. 20, LANL extended the vaccine mandate to employees working from home.
The lab operated throughout the pandemic with employees wearing masks and social distancing.
