A worker at MGM Grand Detroit dismissed for failing to adhere to the casino's COVID-19 vaccination requirement has achieved a significant legal win. 

On Thursday, a federal jury in Michigan’s Eastern US District Court ruled in favor of plaintiff Hratch Yeremian, 56, regarding his claims that he was unfairly fired for not getting a COVID-19 vaccination. In his federal lawsuit submitted in December 2022, Yeremian asserted that his religious beliefs barred him from obtaining the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines. 

Yeremian had been employed at the MGM Resorts International casino in downtown Detroit since 1999. For almost 20 years, he served as a casino pit manager before taking on the role of the resort's warehouse manager in May 2019. 

After declining to accept COVID-19 vaccines, Yeremian was dismissed in October 2021. The federal jury concurred with Yeremian that his termination was unjust. They granted him $33K in back pay and $100K in compensation. 

Yeremian secured new employment in April 2022 at Hollywood Casino in Greektown, where he serves as the table games shift manager. 

Illegal Termination 

In August 2021, MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle revealed a COVID-19 vaccination policy for “all salaried staff and new recruits” who are not subject to union agreements.

"We know that COVID-19 vaccines are the best way to protect people from this deadly virus,” Hornbuckle wrote to impacted employees. “I know that for some of you this may be an unwelcome development — a consideration that we do not take lightly. However, as one of the largest and most trusted operators and employers in our industry, MGM Resorts is determined to do our part to curb the spread of the virus and help counter alarming trends in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.”

Yeremian requested an exemption as he felt that the creation of the vaccines contradicted his Catholic beliefs. He raised concerns about the vaccines that are allegedly being created using aborted human fetal cell lines.

"I discovered that all of the available COVID-19 vaccines have been produced or validated with the aid of aborted fetal tissues, which goes against my religious convictions,” Yeremian wrote his employer in seeking an exemption. “My faith also requires me to treat my body as a temple, and as such, being coerced to inject a substance that hasn’t yet undergone multi-year control group testing represents a potential danger to my spiritual and emotional wellbeing.”

The jury determined that Yeremian possessed a “sincerely held religious belief” about the vaccines, and MGM acted discriminatorily by terminating his employment after he declined to get vaccinated. 

Union Workers Are Not Required to Get Vaccinated 

Workers at the casino with union contracts, representing around 80% of employees at MGM Grand Detroit, cannot be compelled to obtain COVID-19 vaccines unless their collective bargaining agreements are revised. The National Labor Relations Act forbids employers from imposing new conditions on union workers without negotiating new terms with their labor organization. 

The casino floor at MGM Grand Detroit spans 147,000 square feet and features nearly 2,500 slot machines along with 139 live dealer table games. MGM has approximately 1,700 employees at the Detroit resort, which is the highest-earning venue in the city's three-casino industry. 

In 2024, MGM Grand Detroit produced over $603.7 million in gross gaming revenue from live play. MotorCity followed with $385.9 million, while Greentown ranked third at $292.9 million.