HMS Wrongful Termination Lawsuit Moved To Federal Court

Former Harvard Medical School affiliate James D. Wines Jr.’s wrongful termination lawsuit against Harvard was moved from state to federal district court last week after the University filed a notice of removal.

Wines appeared in federal court Monday, after which Harvard requested an extension until Mar. 28 to “formulate an appropriative responsive pleading.”

In Nov. 2021, Wines was fired from Mass General Brigham for refusing the Covid-19 vaccine mandate. He filed the suit against Harvard last November.

Wines requested an exemption to the Covid-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds. He wrote in his complaint that he discovered his termination on Nov. 10, 2021, upon incidentally calling the Harvard Registrar’s Office.

The suit argues that the denial of Wines’ exemption from the Covid-19 vaccine is a violation of Wines’ “constitutional rights to equal protection, substantive due process, procedural due process, and free exercise of religion” and the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

An HMS spokesperson wrote in a Wednesday email that “when a faculty member’s hospital employment ends, their academic appointment at Harvard Medical School also ends.”

“Beyond that, HMS does not comment on litigation,” the spokesperson added.

Wines was appointed an HMS instructor of Psychiatry in 1993, and he continued to teach at Harvard for nearly thirty years.

In the complaint, Wines’ attorneys wrote that prior to his removal, he expected to receive promotions in the near future.

The suit alleges that “at least one colleague familiar with HMS’s faculty appointment process communicated to Dr. Wines that, given his extensive expertise, mentorship, and research contributions in psychiatry and psychopharmacology, HMS would likely promote him to the higher appointment of Assistant Professor in Psychiatry.”

—Staff writer Kaitlyn Y. Choi can be reached at kaitlyn.choi@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Sohum M. Sukhatankar can be reached at sohum.sukhatankar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ssukhatankar06.