Tennessee Supreme Court rules in favor of Bluecross Blueshield in COVID era suit

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled on a COVID-era lawsuit against Bluecross Blueshield.
In 2021, Heather Smith, an employee at Bluecross Blueshield here in Chattanooga, was fired over her refusal to comply with a Covid vaccine mandate.

She had contacted several state legislators to complain about the mandate, which the company said played a factor in her firing.

She had sued Bluecross claiming the firings were retaliatory because she had contacted legislators and had asked to be reinstated at the company.

In the newest ruling, the Tennessee Supreme Court sided with Bluecross.

They say that government entities are prohibited from firing employees while petitioning the government, but that restriction does not apply to private companies.

An attorney for Bluecross, Robert Boston,  during the hearing for this case used an analogy comparing the company to a farmer named Bob as to why this ruling was necessary.

“She puts up a billboard, she writes an article/letter to the newspaper, she assembles a protest in which she expresses her view. Her view is to shut down the cattle farm, for reasons she thinks are important to her. Bob, being the cattle farmer, determines that’s very damaging to my business. At that point he terminates her employment. He’s done nothing wrong under employment at will,” said Boston.

A concurring opinion was filed which questioned the Court’s ability to rule on this case, but it still agreed with the ruling.