Lexington TV station, parent company face lawsuit over COVID-19 vaccine mandate

Two former employees of Lexington-based news station WKYT and parent company Gray Media are suing both the station and the company after they were allegedly fired for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

DeAnn Stephens Cox and Ashley Landis filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court last week. Cox held a variety of positions at WKYT for 27 years. Landis is a former national sales manager for the company.

Cox and Landis allege in the suit that the media outlet violated the Title VII Civil Rights Act for sex and religious discrimination, the American Disabilities Act, the Kentucky Civil Rights Act and the Kentucky Wage and Hour Act after both women were fired in October 2021.

A representative for WKYT did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

Gray Media required staff to get the coronavirus vaccine through a mandate issued in August 2021, according to the lawsuit. Stephens said due to medical issues, her doctor had advised her not to get vaccinated.

According to court documents, Cox sent in an ADA medical questionnaire and exemption form which was signed by her medical provider. She attempted to submit this to the company’s human resources director, but got no reply until she forwarded the message on to the general manager, court documents state.

After about a month with no response, Cox reached out again, and was told the company would need more clarification from Cox’s physician of when Cox would be able to get the vaccine, according to the lawsuit. Cox obtained more documents from her health care provider and gave them to the station in early October 2021.

The documents stated that Cox was “not a candidate” for COVID vaccination because of her medical history, according to court records.

On Oct. 7, 2021, Cox received an email from Maurice Gibson, the vice president of human resources, according to the lawsuit. Gibson did not dispute in this email that Cox was not able to be vaccinated, but stated there was “no reasonable accommodation that would allow Cox to perform essential functions of her role without imposing a substantial undue hardship on (WKYT).”

“Gibson’s email denied Cox’s accommodation request outright and did not even attempt to engage in the interactive process required by the ADA,” the plaintiffs alleged in the lawsuit.

However, the lawsuit alleges that WKYT permitted others to be exempt from the vaccine mandate and permitted others to wear masks in the workplace and undergo weekly testing.

The lawsuit alleges WKYT allowed “similarly situated males” to enter its work spaces and interact with employees, contractors and guests without being fully vaccinated for COVID-19, but still denied Cox’s request for an exemption.

Cox previously took to Facebook to announce she was fired over the issue.

Landis, who was with the company for more than 17 years, claimed in the lawsuit she couldn’t get vaccinated due to her “sincerely held religious beliefs.” Landis worked remotely in Georgia. In the lawsuit, Landis said the provisionally approved COVID-19 vaccines were developed or tested using cell lines that were generated from tissues of aborted fetuses.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exact vaccine ingredients vary by manufacturer. The vaccines themselves don’t contain ingredients like preservatives, tissues (like aborted fetal cells), antibiotics, food proteins, medicines, latex or metals, according to the CDC.

Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines also contain messenger RNA (mRNA) and the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine contains a harmless version of a virus unrelated to the virus that causes COVID-19, according to the CDC.

The Novavax COVID-19 vaccine includes harmless proteins of the virus that causes COVID-19; they are pieces of what is often called the “spike protein,” according to the CDC.

Landis also sent in a request for exemption based on her beliefs, and invited superiors to “open up dialogue as needed,” according to the lawsuit.

Landis said she would continue to wear a mask, maintain social distancing, limit in-person interaction and conduct periodic testing, according to court documents.

On Sept. 28, 2021, two days before the company’s vaccine deadline and a month-and-a-half after submitting her accommodation request, Landis’ request was denied, according to the lawsuit.

She alleges WKYT and Gray Media refused to engage in any discussion regarding her request or her proposed accommodations, court documents state. Landis states she was told by the company’s general manager that being fired for not being vaccinated was a “re-hireable offense.”

“In other words, after delaying deciding Landis’s accommodation request for almost a month-and-a-half, defendant categorically denied Landis’s request, without any discussion or even a semblance of an interactive process and provided her less than 48 hours to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or be terminated,” court documents read.

She was fired on Oct. 1, 2021, over the phone, according to the lawsuit. She then submitted a written request for reconsideration, which was denied.

Landis’ narrative in the lawsuit also states the company allowed a similarly situated male employee, with similar position and responsibilities, to work remote both before and after the vaccine mandate went into effect.

“By permitting a similarly situated male employee to work remotely but denying Landis’s request to work remotely, defendant discriminated against Landis based on her gender,” the lawsuit reads.”

It states Landis was also not paid entitled wages for completing certain benchmarks, prior to her termination.

Both Cox and Landis are seeking compensatory and actual damages including past and future pay and benefits, compensatory damages for emotional distress and mental anguish, equitable relief, punitive damages and an award of attorney fees.

Reporter Beth Musgrave contributed to this story.