Britton

PRINEVILLE — A Prineville-based employee of the St. Charles Health System who says she was fired in 2021 for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has sued for wrongful termination and discrimination.

Jody Britton, the system’s former community philanthropic advocate for Prineville, is seeking $426,000 in Crook County Circuit Court.

The health care system was served with the suit April 15 and has not issued a formal response.

“(St. Charles) did not make a good-faith effort to reasonably accommodate (Britton’s) religious beliefs and could have done so without incurring an undue hardship because (she) worked remotely and did not pose a direct threat to the workplace by remaining unvaccinated against Covid-19,” reads the complaint filed earlier this month.

St. Charles employs more than 4,600 people in health care facilities in Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond, and smaller clinics in La Pine and Sisters.

In October 2019, Britton was hired as a “community philanthropy advocate” for the St. Charles Foundation. In that role, she assisted with fundraising and community events in her hometown of Prineville. The health care system also employs community philanthropy advocates in Madras and Redmond.

Britton had owned her own firm, Northwest Marketing Strategies, and brought a “deep professional background in marketing and community engagement,” according to a press release St. Charles issued touting her hiring.

“We’re doing great things here at St. Charles Prineville and Jody will be out in the community meeting with folks, providing support to community activities and finding ways to help everyone in Crook County become healthier,” Todd Shields, vice president of hospital administration, is quoted as saying. “Between the two of us, we hope to connect with everyone in the county.”

After the pandemic hit, Britton’s entire department had to work from home. St. Charles spokeswoman Lisa Goodman said St. Charles required workers in support — or non “patient-facing” — roles to work from home to minimize their risk of exposure to COVID-19.

Britton worked from home for 18 months.

In August, Gov. Kate Brown ordered that employees in health care settings get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 18.

In response, St. Charles required most, though not all, of its workers to be vaccinated.

Goodman said the vaccination requirement applies to remote workers with potential for direct or indirect exposure to patients or infectious materials.

St. Charles allowed “reasonable accommodations” to be provided for people who qualify for various exemptions, including for religious or medical reasons.

In September, Britton, who has an autoimmune disease that affects her vision, sought a medical exemption, and when that was denied, a religious one, which was also denied, according to her lawsuit.

She claims she was terminated Oct. 14. Her La Grande-based attorney, Brent H. Smith, did not

return a call seeking comment.

In January, Britton filed a discrimination complaint with the Oregon Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in which she claims she was sent an email by St. Charles stating she had been terminated, while St. Charles asserted she quit for personal reasons.

St. Charles announced in October that 93.5% of the system’s caregivers were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

At the time, St. Charles, the largest employer in Central Oregon, was struggling to fill 940 open positions.

To deal with staff losses, 80 Oregon National Guard troops and 120 state-allocated traveling health care workers were stationed at St. Charles facilities in Central Oregon.