Worker says CVS fired her for refusing to give abortion-causing drugs. Now she’s suing

A nurse practitioner says CVS stopped respecting her religious beliefs and fired her for refusing to give abortion-causing drugs to patients.

Now Paige Casey, a devout Catholic from Virginia, is suing CVS Health and its MinuteClinic.

CVS Health accommodated Casey’s request to not prescribe or administer abortion medications, as well as birth control, based on her Catholic beliefs for more than three years, according to a complaint filed Aug. 31 in Prince William County Circuit Court in Virginia.

However, the complaint says this accommodation “abruptly” ended in December 2021 before she was fired months later after working at clinic locations in northern Virginia.

Casey’s lawsuit says CVS illegally fired her in violation of Virginia state law — specifically regarding her “freedom of conscience.”

A CVS Health spokesperson told McClatchy News in a statement that “pregnancy prevention” is one essential MinuteClinic job function for CVS Health workers.

CVS has “a well-defined process in place for employees to request and be granted a reasonable accommodation due to their religious beliefs, which in some cases can be an exemption from performing certain job functions,” the spokesperson said.

“It is not possible, however, to grant an accommodation that exempts an employee from performing the essential functions of their job.”

The lawsuit says CVS held a town hall meeting in August 2021, announcing the company “would no longer accommodate employees with religious convictions against prescribing abortifacients, hormonal contraceptives, and other forms of birth control that can cause abortions.”

In the months afterward, Casey continued to reiterate that she could not participate in providing abortion care before she was fired on April 1, according to the complaint.

The complaint says CVS violated the Virginia conscience clause. The clause states: “Any person who shall state in writing an objection to any abortion or all abortions on personal, ethical, moral or religious grounds shall not be required to participate in procedures which will result in such abortion.”

A few months after she was first hired by CVS, Casey wrote in an accommodation request form “that as a practicing Roman Catholic she is prohibited from prescribing or facilitating the use of a drug or device that prevents or can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg,” according to the complaint.

Casey is seeking $100,000 in damages for lost wages, front pay, back pay and more. She is being represented by attorneys from the legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom.

Denise Harle, one of Casey’s attorneys and ADF’s director of its Center for Life, told McClatchy News in a statement that her client had a “spotless” employment record.

“Paige was fired for unjust reasons, and no corporation should be able to force someone to participate in activities that contradict their deeply held faith,” Harle added.

Meanwhile, the CVS spokesperson said “as we continue to enhance our MinuteClinic services, educating and treating patients regarding sexual health matters - including pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted infection prevention, screening and treatment, and safer sex practices - have become essential job functions of our providers and nurses.”

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