A long-running lawsuit brought by an employee over implementation of a federal contractor’s COVID-19 vaccination policy at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee has ended just months before a planned jury trial.
A Jan. 30 filing with the federal district court in Knoxville, Tenn., indicate plaintiff Jeff Bilyeu and employer UT-Battelle, which runs Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Department of Energy, “have agreed to a compromise … and further agree that such matter should be dismissed.”
The brief filing did not use the word “settlement” nor offer any details on the compromise.
The case dates back to August 2021 after UT-Battelle implemented a policy urging staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Jeffrey and Jessica Bilyeu, a married couple employed at the national laboratory, filed suit saying the contractor failed to properly accommodate their religious objections to taking the vaccine.
The Bilyeu litigation got a boost in September 2025 after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that a recent Supreme Court decision made it easier for employees to pursue such claims.
The couple had gone to the appeals court after losing before a U.S. District Court judge.
Prior to the Jan. 30 dismissal, Jeff Bilyeu’s case was scheduled for an April jury trial in Knoxville, before U.S. District Court Judge Charles Atchley Jr.