The lone remaining plaintiff in a COVID-19 vaccination lawsuit was set to go to trial this month with the prime contractor for the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
In filings during March, the U.S. District Court for Eastern Tennessee confirmed an April 23 trial date for Jessica Bilyeu, after ruling her husband had no case.
In a March 25 order, the April 23 trial date was finalized for Jessica Bilyeu.
“Because Ms. Bilyeu has established a prima facie case of retaliation and created a jury question as to pretext, the court will allow her claim to proceed to trial,” the order reads.
Jessica Bilyeu claimed the management joint venture between Battelle and the University of Tennessee downgraded her job performance rating Oct. 27, 2021, the day after she testified in a preliminary hearing in the case.
But U.S. District Court Judge Charles Atchley ruled March 21 Jeffrey Bilyeu failed to show evidence of adverse treatment by UT-Battelle, which rejected his claim for a religious exemption from the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination.
“Mr. Bilyeu’s placement on unpaid leave does not constitute a materially adverse employment action,” Judge Atchley wrote. “In being placed on unpaid leave, Mr. Bilyeu was simply not to be paid for the time he did not work. It is true that Mr. Bilyeu used vacation time to cover for his period of unpaid leave, but this fact does not save his claim.”
The Bilyeus’ case started in October 2021, weeks after President Joe Biden’s pandemic-inspired executive orders held that most federal employees and contractor employees would be vaccinated against COVID-19.
There were initially multiple plaintiffs. Six remained in June 2022, when the parties seemingly agreed to settlement before the deal fell apart in the fine-print stage. Over time, the other plaintiffs have left the case.
UT-Battelle has said the Bilyeus have no case and the lawsuit should be thrown out.
DOE stopped enforcing COVID-19 vaccine mandates in August 2022.
