Wal-Mart Pharmacist to Have Day in Court Against Employer

Federal Court Ruling Denies Wal-Mart's Attempt to Silence Pharmacist

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2007—The United State District Court in Springfield, Ill. announced that it will deny a motion by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former Wal-Mart pharmacist. Pharmacist Ethan Vandersand, who is represented by America's leading conservative public-interest law firm, The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), was suspended by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. after refusing to dispense Plan B and other drugs to which he has a moral objection.  Judge Jeanne E. Scott of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois said that Vandersand has the right to proceed with his case against Wal-Mart under both the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act and Title VII, the federal statute that prohibits employment discrimination.

The lawsuit contends that Wal-Mart violated Vandersand's rights when it suspended him for refusing to dispense prescriptions such as Plan B, also known as "the-morning-after-pill." Wal-Mart argued that the Right of Conscience Act did not cover pharmacists and that, under the Act's definitions, pharmacists are not considered health care providers. The retailer also contended that it could not accommodate Vandersand's beliefs, as required by Title VII, because it was merely implementing an executive order from the Governor's office.
 
 Judge Jeanne E. Scott said that the plain language of the Right of Conscience Act unquestionably covers pharmacists, and that they are to be considered health care providers who participate in the furnishing of health care services. The court also rejected the Title VII argument, pointing out that the Governor's Order placed a duty on pharmacy owners not on individual pharmacists, leaving it up to the owners to fashion a policy for complying with the Order without violating the rights of their individual pharmacy employees.
 
"This ruling is a huge step forward in the ongoing struggle to ensure legal recognition of pharmacists' right to practice their chosen profession without violating their moral and professional integrity," said ACLJ senior counsel, Francis J. Manion. "Wal-Mart's arguments, now soundly rejected by this court, may no longer be used by corporate or governmental officials to squeeze out of the profession pharmacists with a high regard for the sanctity of all human life."
 
The case of Ethan Vandersand v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is one of a series of similar cases that have arisen since April of 2005 when Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich issued an Executive Order requiring that all Illinois retail pharmacies make available, "without delay," Plan B and other forms of "emergency contraception." More than a dozen Illinois pharmacists who voiced religious objections to dispensing the drugs have been fired or suspended over the issue by employers implementing the Governor's order.
 
 Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice specializes in constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C. The ACLJ is online at www.aclj.org.

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