Public transit workers fired due to COVID vaccine mandate to get over $1M each, federal jury decides

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal jury has sided with fired Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) workers who sued the agency claiming they lost their jobs over a COVID vaccine mandate.

There are six of them total in the lawsuit and each will receive more than $1 million.

PREVIOUS: Federal jury deliberates over BART workers fired due to COVID vaccine mandate

The employees claimed religious exemptions to the vaccine mandate but say they were not accommodated by the transit agency, and subsequently lost their job.

BART did initially grant vaccine exemptions, but the plaintiffs argued they weren't accommodated. An accommodation could have meant that they were able to work from home or get tested regularly for COVID. They argued none of that happened and they lost their jobs.

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On the eve of Thanksgiving, many unvaccinated BART employees learned their requests for a religious exemption to the COVID vaccine mandate was denied.

In total, BART must now pay a combined $7.8 million to all six former employees.

BART is a transit agency that is already between $350 and $400 million in the red, but BART's board of directors did vote eight to one for the vaccine mandate in 2021.

BART has not commented on Wednesday's decision.