A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory’s contracted operator in Tennessee from terminating or placing on unpaid leave its workers who are exempted from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Days after six employees filed a lawsuit against the University of Tennessee-Battelle (UT-Battelle), District Judge Charles Atchley in Knoxville issued a temporary restraining order limiting the ability for the managing contractor for Oak Ridge National Laboratory from placing employees on indefinite unpaid leave or firing them after they receive a religious or medical exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine. Though not-for-profit company UT-Battelle allows for employees to submit requests for exemptions under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, it later told about 140 employees they will be put on unpaid leave as of Oct. 15, despite their approval for exemption. UT-Battelle’s actions left workers with the “impossible choice of either taking the …