Image of male nurse pushing senior woman in a wheelchair in nursing facility

A North Carolina hospital will have to go to trial over claims that it fired at least three employees who refused a flu shot on religious grounds. 

Mission Hospital Inc. refutes the claims, arguing the workers weren’t fired for their religious beliefs, but rather for failing to follow the hospital’s accommodation procedure and deadlines. 

The hospital’s motion to dismiss the case was denied in August. The case will proceed to a jury trial, where there are “genuine issues of material face” and a jury could side with either party, according to the court’s opinion.