New York must allow religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandate, judge rules

[PoliticAverse]

Oct 12 (Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that New York state cannot impose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on healthcare workers without allowing their employers to consider religious exemption requests.

U.S. District Judge David Hurd in Albany, New York, ruled that the state's workplace vaccination requirement conflicted with healthcare workers' federally protected right to seek religious accommodations from their employers.

The ruling provides a test case as vaccine mandate opponents gear up to fight plans by President Joe Biden's administration to extend COVID-19 inoculation requirements to tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans.

...

Seventeen healthcare workers opposed to the mandate sued, saying the requirement violated their rights under the U.S. Constitution and a federal civil rights law requiring employers to reasonably accommodate employees' religious beliefs.

Read the rest at: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-york-must-allow-religious-exemptions-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-judge-rules-2021-10-12/

Wikipedia page on the Judge that issued the rule:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_N._Hurd

Hurd is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. Hurd was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 12, 1999, to a seat vacated by Constantine George Cholakis. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 13, 1999, and received commission on September 22, 1999.

[elleng]

1. WHAT 'religious exemptions?'

[Bev54]

2. I wonder the same, can anyone give an example of a religious exemption.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. That's my question, too! What religion supports exposing yourself to a deadly virus and spreading it??

[PoliticAverse]

4. What constitutes a "sincerely held" religious exemption to a vaccine mandate?

From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/religious-exemption-covid-vaccine-mandate/

Most labor attorneys agree there is a lot of legal gray area when it comes to claiming and approving religious-based requests for vaccine exemptions.

"I don't think anybody is 100% clear. The EEOC's view of sincerely held religious belief is employers aren't supposed to challenge the sincerity of the belief," said Jason Reisman, co-chair of Blank Rome's labor and employment practice group.

[thucythucy]

7. The only people I can think of that are at all consistent about this

are Christian Scientists, who oppose pretty much all medical interventions (and I take it this means they won't be going into any ER or ICU when the virus hits them).

The Pope has come out and said Catholics should get the vaccine.

I would think that fundamentalist Protestants and others who oppose vaccination should face the same scrutiny as draftees who want to claim conscientious objector status.

In fact it should be heightened, since draftees can make their claims under the first amendment, since it clearly covers government entities such as draft boards. I would imagine that arguing for such exemptions from a private entity would face a higher burden of proof--since their claims are in direct opposition to the rights of business owners to keep their work places safe for others.

Just my opinion--I'm certainly not an attorney or any kind of constitutional scholar.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

5. In order to claim religious exemption I think they should have to be

able to show were in the Bible (whatever book that religion may have ) where it says that they are exempt from vaccine.

If they have had other vaccines then they need to show were their religions book tells them specifically not to get the COVID vaccine.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Any one claiming a religious exemption should be required to self-quarantine ...

... for the remainder of the pandemic.

They have no right to endanger the public because of their cockeyed "spiritual" beliefs.

[Silver Gaia]

8. They are out there!

https://www.religioustolerance.org/medical2.htm

There are others as well.

Now, whether most of those claiming such an exemption actually DO belong to any of these religions, well... that's another question.

And yes, they need to quarantine if they are refusing to vax.

[piddyprints]

9. Most religious exemptions are fake.

I know someone whose 5-year-old has had almost no vaccinations, but is still allowed in school because of a religious exemption. This father follows no religion whatsoever, but claimed the exemption because he’s convinced that a vaccination his son had in infancy caused his autism. No one questions it.

Religion is a a scourge that does far more harm than good throughout the world. If they claim an exemption for the COVID vaccine, they should be required to carry a card stating that all medical care should be refused if they catch it. No hospital admittance, etc.