Legal wrangling continues after Flint Hills nursing student given exemption
TOPEKA — The Kansas Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s dismissal of a Flint Hills Technical College nursing student’s lawsuit challenging on religious grounds a mandate she get a COVID-19 vaccination or be excluded from required clinical coursework at an Emporia hospital.
A panel of the Court of Appeals instructed the Lyon County District Court to take up the religious-freedom portion of legal claims brought by Molly Ellis, who was eventually granted a waiver from the vaccine directive, completed course requirements at Newman Regional Health and earned a Flint Hills nursing degree.
The three-judge appellate panel agreed with the district court’s dismissal of Ellis’ consumer protection claims against Flint Hills.
Her lawsuit in early 2022 was associated with anti-vaccination campaigns that gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic and led the Kansas Legislature to revise state laws that had compelled certain people to get shots against infectious disease. The law now prohibits government from substantially burdening a person’s religious rights, unless it was demonstrated the action advanced a compelling interest and was the least restrictive avenue for accomplishing that goal.
When Ellis enrolled in the practical nursing program at Flint Hills in 2021, she made no secret of her personal religious beliefs regarding vaccination. The college recognized Ellis’ views by giving her a de facto waiver from other vaccination requirements of the nursing program, the Court of Appeals said.
Problems arose when Ellis was assigned by Flint Hills to Newman Regional for clinical training. The hospital forbid nursing students from working in the hospital unless vaccinated against a COVID-19 virus that eventually killed more than 10,000 Kansans.
Flint Hills denied Ellis a religious exemption when she raised provisions of the Kansas Preservation of Religious Freedom Act. The college said she couldn’t complete the clinical work at a different hospital and informed Ellis she risked receiving failing grades for clinical assignments. Her alternatives, the college said, were to get the COVID-19 shot or drop out of the nursing program.
Ellis responded by filing suit against Flint Hills and the college’s nursing director Kim McNeese. Lyon County District Court granted a preliminary injunction preventing Flint Hills from flunking Ellis while attempts were made to resolve the conflict.
Newman Regional eventually notified Flint Hills the hospital’s vaccination policy had been amended so unvaccinated Flint Hills students could take part in clinical work if granted a religious or medical exemption.
Flint Hills provided Ellis the religious exemption. She completed her clinical studies at Newman Regional and graduated in June 2022.
In 2023, Lyon County District Court Judge Lee Fowler granted summary judgment in Ellis’ lawsuit to Flint Hills and McNeese after concluding Ellis should have sued Newman Regional rather than Flint Hills. The judge said Ellis could have sued the hospital because it created the academic gridlock and Flint Hills had no ability to force Newman Regional to exempt Ellis.
Ellis pivoted to the Court of Appeals, which issued a decision in November reversing the district court on the religious question. The appellate judges concluded Ellis’ claim was not based on Newman Regional’s policy, but on Flint Hills’ reaction to it.
“When faced with a refusal to accept one of its students, Ellis alleged that Flint Hills offered her no alternatives to satisfy her coursework and receive the benefits she paid Flint Hills to provide,” the Court of Appeals said. “Ellis argues defendants are effectively using Newman’s policy as a red herring to distract from their responsibilities for her predicament.”
There was no evidence offered by Flint Hills that administrators advised Ellis to apply for a religious exemption at Newman Regional. Nor was there evidence Newman Regional was accepting such applications.
The Court of Appeals ordered the case returned to Lyon County to determine whether Flint Hills substantially burdened Ellis’ exercise of religious beliefs in 2022.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
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