Oklahoma was granted a temporary restraining order that blocks Ascension Healthcare from terminating employees who were denied religious exemptions from the firm’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor had filed for a restraining order against the company’s requirement. On the night of Nov. 12, a Tulsa district judge granted the request, according to the O’Connor’s office. “This evening, the Tulsa District Court granted the State’s Application for Temporary Restraining Order in our case to keep Ascension Healthcare from carrying out its plan to fire employees who were unfairly denied religious exemptions from their nationwide COVID-19 vaccination mandate,” the Republican attorney general said in a statement. “This is a win for religious freedom and our office will continue to fight against unlawful religious discrimination.” Some Ascension employees who worked during the pandemic, he said, sought a religious exemption to the vaccine but were unfairly denied. “Healthcare heroes who sought …