A care worker who was dismissed because she refused to have a coronavirus vaccine can argue that her reasons were religious, an employment judge has ruled. Patrycja Wierowska worked as a carer for HC-One care homes until she was fired on April 28, 2021.
Ms Wierowska, a lifelong Roman Catholic, claimed that one of the reasons for her dismissal was because she refused to have a Covid vaccine on religious grounds. In a preliminary judgment published on Friday, employment judge Eoin Fowell ruled Ms Wierowska could rely on her religion as a protected characteristic at an employment tribunal.
He wrote: “I am satisfied that her views about the vaccine are intimately connected with her religious faith, and there is a sufficiently close and direct nexus between her refusal to take a Covid vaccine and her underlying beliefs.” The ruling follows a preliminary hearing on the issue held remotely at Exeter Employment Tribunal in July.
