California jury sides with religious workers in COVID vaccination case

A San Francisco jury on Wednesday ruled in favor of six former public transportation workers who lost their jobs because they refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The workers objected to receiving the vaccine on religious grounds and sought accommodations allowing them to continue their jobs while following their beliefs. The verdict was a win for religious liberty, according to the Pacific Justice Institute, or PJI, which represented the workers at trial.

What all happened? After the workers objected to getting the vaccine on religious grounds, the public transportation company—Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART—fired them. The former employees then sued the company. BART argued the employees were objecting to the vaccine on secular grounds, not religious grounds, the PJI said. Attorneys with the PJI argued that the fact that the workers were willing to lose their jobs before they got the vaccine showed the sincerity of their religious convictions.

Several of the workers testified at trial about their experience, according to PJI. One of the former employees had worked at the company for more than three decades and had a 10-year perfect attendance record. Another was out on workers comp when she received her termination notice. The jury ordered the company to pay the six workers, in total, about $7.8 million. BART told WORLD it would not comment on the matter.

Dig deeper: Read Steve West’s report in Liberties about how a fire chief’s religious discrimination suit has reached the Supreme Court.