Hawaiian Airlines is facing a lawsuit from former employees who claim they were wrongfully terminated for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
According to Shanah Brody, a former flight attendant who worked for the airline for 22 years, she and hundreds of other employees asked for a religious or medical exemption from the vaccine, but were denied.
Instead, they were given the option to fill out a form agreeing to be placed on unpaid leave for up to a year, or face termination.
Even if they agreed to take unpaid leave, they would lose their seniority upon returning to work.
In September, Hawaiian Airlines announced it was dropping its vaccine mandate and would be rehiring unvaccinated workers.
However, attorney Michael Green, who is representing Brody in the lawsuit, claims that the company only rehired those who agreed to take unpaid leave.
Green argues that it is illegal for the airline to deny workers the right to religious or medical exemptions and that the company should have rehired workers according to their seniority.
He also suggests that the airline’s actions may warrant punitive damages.
Brody says it is painful not to feel like a part of the Hawaiian Airlines family after so many years and that the situation has caused division.
Green also represented workers who filed a lawsuit against the city over the vaccine mandate, but that case has been dropped due to exemptions being allowed and employees returning to work.
Hawaiian Airlines has not commented on the litigation.
