Major Michigan insurer in talks to settle lawsuits over fired workers and COVID-19 vaccine

DETROIT — A major Michigan insurance company is in talks to possibly settle more than 100 lawsuits by employees who were fired after declining to get a COVID-19 vaccination, court records show.

The disclosure comes three months after a jury awarded more than $12 million to a woman who had worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for more than 30 years.

Much of that award will likely be reduced because of a cap on punitive damages. But in a court filing, lawyers for Blue Cross and Lisa Domski asked a federal judge to put her case on hold Thursday while they work with a mediator to try to reach a ''global resolution'' over similar lawsuits.

Blue Cross and Noah Hurwitz, the attorney representing Domski and many other former employees, declined to comment further Friday.

Domski, an IT specialist, said she was a victim of religious discrimination. Blue Cross in 2021 did not grant an exemption from its COVID-19 vaccine policy, despite her insistence that the vaccine clashed with her Catholic beliefs.

Blue Cross denied any discrimination and said it believed Domski lacked a sincere religious belief.

A jury in November awarded Domski about $1.7 million in lost pay, $1 million in noneconomic damages and $10 million in punitive damages.

U.S. District Judge David Lawson heard arguments in January about reducing the amount. But he didn't make an immediate decision. Domski's lawyers acknowledged that punitive damages cannot exceed $300,000.