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A Bronx man showed he took paid leave of absence from a catering company gig for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine, new court papers show.
Antonio Coronado, 35, was evicted from Great Performances on May 28 – a move he says resembles an “unlawful termination,” according to a Queens High Court suit filed on Friday.
“You’re supposed to get a choice,” Coronado, who has been with the company since February 2020, told The Post. “Not fair. You were a great employee just ending me like this out of nowhere just because I don’t want to get vaccinated, it’s not really fair.”
“I’ve only been out a few months ago and I don’t feel safe to take one,” Coronado said.
Furthermore, Coronado – who is a Christian – said getting the vaccine also goes against his religious beliefs.
Employers are “forcing him to disregard his religious and moral beliefs and safety concerns as well as the text of the law based solely on the outlaw principle and mandating that everyone else do it. This is neither legal nor just,” the court documents charged.
Antonio Coronado claims he was fired shortly after his employer was told he would not get the vaccine.
Elmhurst, a resident of Queens, was told the indefinite leave of absence would continue until he complied with the “retroactive mandate”, court papers allege.
The lawsuit alleges that forcing employees to get vaccinated violates state and city laws and discriminates against Coronado because of his religious beliefs.
Coronado said the company was testing employees twice a week for the virus, and then about three months ago, “All of a sudden we all got an email saying…we need the vaccine to work there.”
He said he responded a few months later saying he didn’t feel comfortable receiving a jab – and then he was cleared.
Coronado’s attorney, David Schwartz, told The Post that as an alternative, his client should be allowed to continue to get tested regularly and have his temperature taken.
“Anthony Coronado has a religious right to refuse to inject himself with an experimental vaccine and his employer violated his rights and fired him unjustly and took revenge on Anthony and we demand compensation and we demand justice in his right to refuse to take the experimental vaccine,” Schwartz said.
Grand Shows spokeswoman Karina Hayek said in a statement: “Mr. Coronado has not notified us or requested any accommodation based on disability or sincere religious belief.”
A COVID-19 vaccine sign at Rite Aid in Manhattan. Noam Galai / Getty Images
Hayek added that the company “requires a COVID-19 vaccine for employees as stated in our policy, but we will engage in a collaborative dialogue with all employees who request reasonable accommodations based on disability or sincere religious beliefs.”
Hayek also said the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission allows employers to request the vaccine — a position that has also been adopted into the city’s human rights laws, she said.
But according to EEOC guidance issued late last month, employers must provide “reasonable accommodations” for workers who refuse injections because of disability, pregnancy or religious reasons.
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