A jury awarded a settlement of $687,240 to a woman in Tennessee who was fired from her job at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee (BCBST) for refusing to comply with a Covid-19 vaccine mandate. Of the total amount, $500,000 was for punitive damages levied against BCBST.

Tanja Benton, who worked as a biostatistical research scientist at BCBST from 2005 to 2022, was terminated from her job after her request for a religious exemption to the company’s Covid vaccine mandate was denied. She appealed the decision, but to no avail. She subsequently filed a federal lawsuit against the company.