Jennifer Sigley, Sloan Hamil, Katherine Lott Howerin and Tina Wolfe are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in federal court against the operators of a Spanish Fort retirement community who claim the company's COVID-19 vaccine policy violated religious protections.

The suit alleges the defendants in the case, ACTS Retirement-Life Communities, Inc. and Presbyterian Retirement Corporation, Inc., the operators of Spanish Fort's Westminister Village, violated religious freedoms.

Reportedly, Howerin and Wolfe said the company granted religious exemptions. However, they said "about a month later," the operators reversed course and terminated their employment.

"My exemption was approved in the middle of September," Howerin, an eight-year employee of Westminster Village, said to Mobile TV's WKRG. "And then October 7, my administrator handed me a letter and basically rescinded the exception."

Wolfe, who worked formerly as an RN supervisor for Westminster Village for 12 years, had a similar reaction.

"I was shocked because I didn't think they could do that," she said to WKRG. "How can they tell us they can't accept our exemption when they already did it."

Brian Dasinger, a Fairhope-based attorney, handling a similar lawsuit for former Mobile-based shipbuilder Austal employees, is the plaintiff's attorney.

To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com.

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