Former City of Portland Employee Who Was Working Remotely From Hawaii Sues Over Vaccine Mandate

A former city employee has sued the city of Portland over the COVID-19 vaccination mandate it implemented last year, alleging the city discriminated against her based on religion, then retaliated against her.

The plaintiff, a former accountant for the city named Natalya Vasilenko, filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Portland on Aug. 16.

Vasilenko alleges the city discriminated against her and other religious employees with its vaccine mandate and subsequent rules for unvaccinated employees that went into effect on Oct. 18, 2021.

At the time, Vasilenko was working remotely from Keaau, Hawaii—a town on the Big Island.

The complaint says Vasilenko filed for an exemption that was approved Oct. 6—but she was unhappy with the city’s rules for unvaccinated employees, including having to wear a KN95 mask. According to the lawsuit, Vasilenko “requested that she continue working remotely as she had been doing since March 16, 2020, with the City’s express approval. Plaintiff’s appeal was denied on October 15, 2021, despite her prior authorization for telework until August 17, 2022.”

The city separated with Vasilenko on Oct. 20, citing, according to the lawsuit, “[failure] to meet ‘minimum qualifications’ for City employment.”

Vasilenko requested a due-process meeting with the city, where, according to the lawsuit, she communicated that “the required respirator would deprive her of oxygen throughout the workday and prevent her from performing her job. Instead, Plaintiff requested that she be allowed to wear a regular cloth mask when eventually needed back at the office and, until then, to continue teleworking. When Plaintiff asked why she could not continue teleworking, no answer was given.”

According to the filing, Vasilenko was officially terminated Nov. 10.

“As a disciple of Jesus Christ, Plaintiff has bona fide and sincerely held religious beliefs that prevent her from receiving any of the vaccines for protection against COVID-19,” the complaint reads.

The complaint alleges that the city’s rules for unvaccinated employees—like wearing a KN95 respirator, socially distancing from co-workers and eating lunch away from others—are “intrinsically discriminatory because they segregate, classify, humiliate, and disparately impact the City’s religious employees.”

Vasilenko also alleges retaliation by the city in response to her “daring to question the City’s unreasonable and heavy-handed implementation of the Mandate.”

She’s requesting a jury trial.

The City Attorney’s Office does not comment on ongoing litigation.