New York appeals court sides with employer in COVID-19 vaccine “religious exemptions” dispute

A panel from the State of New York Supreme Court Appellate Third Judicial Department on Thursday ruled that the New York State Unified Court System was justified in denying 29 non-judicial employees’ requests for religious exemptions to a COVID-19 vaccination requirement. The panel disagreed with the employees’ allegations that the vaccine mandate was “arbitrary and capricious,” while saying that the “validity of the vaccine mandate policy was not an issue in this proceeding.”

So the employer just abridged these individuals’ religious beliefs? The appeals court ruled that it did not. It argued that many of the applicants failed to prove that their religious beliefs were “sincerely held.” Many applicants raised the issue that fetal cells had been used to produce the COVID-19 vaccines and that their religion prevented them from participating in that process by receiving the vaccine. The court system found through a review process that many of those applicants used other medications or vaccines that also used fetal cells in their development. As a result, the appeals court ruled they could not prove their religious objection to the use of fetal cells was consistently applied throughout their life such as to constitute a “sincerely held” religious belief.

Did anyone speak out against this decision? One of the judges on the panel argued that the court system did err in refusing these employees’ requests for an exemption. He argued that employees in their position were not “required to prove the truth” of their beliefs when requesting religious exemptions. He also cited legal precedent arguing that their beliefs were not required to be “acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensive to others,” in order to be “sincerely held.”

Dig deeper: Read Steve West’s report in Liberties about a couple standing up for their religious beliefs in Oregon.