The University of Michigan Health-West and five executives will be involved in arbitration proceedings to address claims of religious bias and constitutional rights violations by a Christian former physician assistant. The assistant had refused to comply with a preferred-pronoun policy for patients.
The US District Court for the Western District of Michigan ruled that the defendants did not waive their right to enforce the arbitration clause in the worker’s employment agreement. This decision was made in contrast to a Sixth Circuit ruling in the case of Schwebke v. United Wholesale Mortgage LLC.
In the Schwebke case, the appeals court determined that the employer had engaged in excessive discovery and other litigation activities in court before seeking arbitration. However, in the case involving the University of Michigan Health-West, the court found that the defendants had not engaged in similar behavior, allowing the arbitration process to move forward.
