Federal Jury Awards Former State Trooper $500K in Retaliation Lawsuit Against N.C. Highway Patrol

A federal jury in Asheville has found the North Carolina Highway Patrol retaliated against former state trooper Jonathan Daniel Williams after he raised religious objections to mandatory COVID-19 testing policies during the pandemic.

The jury returned its verdict on May 19 and awarded Williams $500,000 in damages.

The lawsuit centered on Williams’ firing in January 2022 after he refused to continue undergoing nasal swab COVID-19 testing required under a state Department of Public Safety policy issued during the pandemic.

Earlier this year, Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger ruled that Williams had presented enough evidence for a retaliation claim to proceed to trial, while dismissing several other claims included in the lawsuit.

“Here, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Plaintiff, the Plaintiff has presented a prima facie case of retaliation,” Reidinger wrote in a January order.

According to court records, Williams submitted a request for a religious exemption from nasal swab testing on Nov. 22, 2021. Reidinger noted that a personnel complaint against Williams was filed the following day.

The judge also pointed to the timing of Williams’ termination, writing that Williams was fired for allegedly failing to comply with testing requirements “as of December 29, 2021,” even though DPS did not notify him until Dec. 23, 2021, that saliva testing would be permitted as an alternative accommodation.

Court documents showed Williams then complied with saliva testing after learning of the option. Records indicated he submitted saliva tests between Dec. 30, 2021, and Jan. 18, 2022, and that any missed testing windows were tied to limited appointment availability.

Reidinger wrote that Williams had presented sufficient evidence for a jury to conclude DPS’ stated reasons for firing him “were merely a pretext for discrimination.”

The lawsuit stemmed from a COVID-19 workplace policy adopted by the Department of Public Safety in response to an executive order issued in 2021 by former Gov. Roy Cooper. The policy required employees, including state troopers, to either be vaccinated or undergo regular COVID-19 testing.

Williams initially complied with the testing policy and underwent nasal swab tests in September 2021. However, court records stated he later concluded the invasive testing conflicted with his religious beliefs.

“After the second test, however, the Plaintiff became ‘convicted spiritually that what [he] had done was wrong’ and that the nasal swab testing ‘went against [his] conscience and beliefs,’” Reidinger wrote.

Williams later requested a religious accommodation, stating that both COVID-19 vaccination and repetitive invasive testing were contrary to his sincerely held religious beliefs.

While Reidinger allowed the retaliation claim to proceed, he dismissed Williams’ additional claims involving religious accommodation under Title VII, the Americans With Disabilities Act, and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. The judge also dismissed claims against five individual Highway Patrol supervisors named in the lawsuit.

Williams was officially terminated on Jan. 24, 2022. His separation notice stated he failed to provide proof of vaccination or weekly testing results as required under department policy.