A federal judge granted final approval to a class action settlement resolving claims by former BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBST) employees who were terminated in 2021 after refusing the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds.
Senior U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier signed the order on December 8, dismissing the lawsuit with prejudice, and binding BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee to undisclosed terms that provide relief to most of the affected former employees.
Collier is a Clinton appointee who has served on the Eastern District of Tennessee bench since 1995 when he became the district’s first black federal judge. He took senior status in 2014.
The class action lawsuit represents most of the 41 employees fired after the insurer imposed a vaccine requirement on about 900 “customer-facing” roles in 2021. Many of those roles involved remote work, which had been in place throughout the pandemic. Employees who sought religious exemptions were denied accommodations, such as continued telecommuting or testing, and given 30 days to comply, resign, or face termination.
Nineteen employees were terminated in October 2021, followed by 22 more in November — weeks before Tennessee enacted legislation limiting private employer vaccine mandates.
The lawsuit, originally led by plaintiff Matt Abernathy, proceeded without him after he rejected the settlement terms and was dropped by counsel. Reports from earlier this year indicated the parties were nearing a resolution, with preliminary agreements reached in April 2025.
The case is one of several stemming from BCBST’s 2021 mandate. In a separate individual lawsuit, former employee Tanja Benton won a jury verdict in 2024, was upheld on appeal in February 2025, resulting in over $500,000 in damages for religious discrimination after the court found the company failed to provide reasonable accommodations.
BCBST prevailed in other related disputes, including a March 2025 Tennessee Supreme Court ruling in a retaliation claim involving an employee who contacted lawmakers about the policy.
For their part, BCBST continues to maintain that the mandate was implemented for the health and safety of employees, members, and communities, particularly vulnerable populations.
Without constituting an admission of wrongdoing by BCBST, the December order closes the class litigation more than four years after the terminations.
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Christina Botteri is the Executive Editor at The Tennessee Star. Follow her on X at @christinakb.
Photo “COVID Vaccine Protest” by Anthony Crider CC2.0.
