Disputes between employees and employers over COVID-19-era vaccination and masking policies continue to work their way through the legal system. Earlier this month, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes Georgia) affirmed dismissal of a claim by an employee upset over COVID-19 safety protocols that her employer violated her rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act by enforcing its masking policy.

In Covell v. Community Physicians of North Port P.A., the plaintiff refused to comply with her employer’s masking policy based on an alleged medical condition. The employer accommodated this objection by placing her in an isolated area, but she quit and filed suit, claiming that she was harassed and discriminated against as a result of voicing her objections. She alleged that by requiring masking, the employer regarded her as disabled (potentially susceptible to a communicable disease) and that the mask mandate constituted an impermissible medical examination or medical inquiry as defined under the ADA.

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the lawsuit on the basis that the plaintiff failed to plead any recognized violation of her ADA rights. Regarding someone as being at-risk for catching COVID-19 is not an ADA disability. Requiring mask use is neither an examination nor a medical inquiry.

During the pandemic, employees raised often novel and creative legal challenges in response to vaccination and masking rules. Employers generally accommodated employees with allergies or other clear medical impediments to vaccinations. When based on religion, these claims have some legal traction, and have resulted in decisions favoring accommodation obligations. However, this case demonstrates the failure so far of attempts to stretch disability discrimination laws to apply to what appear to be moral or political objections to employers’ safety policies.

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