He added: “It is not possible, however, to grant an accommodation that exempts an employee from performing the essential functions of their job.”
MinuteClinic services are expanding, DeAngelis said. This means the education and treatment of 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 MinuteClinic health providers and nurses.
“We cannot grant exemptions from these essential MinuteClinic functions unless it is required by state law,” he said.
The lawsuit itself challenges the description of the job functions as “essential.”
“An employer cannot sidestep Title VII’s requirement to accommodate religious employees by merely labeling a particular function ‘essential,’” the lawsuit states. The claim these functions are “essential” is “particularly unconvincing when it concerns less than 0.2% of the functions an employee performs.”
“The relevant inquiry is whether the employee can be accommodated per the employer’s statutory duty,” the lawsuit states.
The dispensing of abortion drugs at retail pharmacies adds another dimension to the religious accommodation issue.
Both CVS Pharmacy and its competitor Walgreens — which together have 9,000 retail locations across the U.S. — intend to take advantage of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s announcement that it will allow any patient with a prescription to obtain mifepristone from her local retail pharmacy if it is appropriately certified to dispense the drug.
Mifepristone is the first of the two pills used in a chemical abortion. The drug works by cutting off nutrients necessary for a fetus to continue developing. The second drug, misoprostol, is taken 24 to 48 hours later and induces contractions that expel the dead unborn child.
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