Here Come the Workplace Vaccine Religious Exemption Battles

Walter OlsonCompanies like Wal ‐​Mart, United Air Lines, and Tyson Foods have announced plans to require part or all of their workforce to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Many employee claims for religious exemptions are likely to follow. How are they likely to fare as a legal matter?InApril I wrote:Title VII, the federal employment discrimination law, forces an employer to accommodate employees ’ religious beliefs when it can do so without cost. For that reason, employees with religious objections to vaccination can ask employers to exempt them, and employers must at least consider the request. “Consider,” however, does not mean “accede to”: under a 1977 Supreme Court case calledTrans World Airlines v. Hardison, which I ’ve written abouthere, Title VII “does not require an employer to make any accommodation for an employee’s practice of religion if doing so would impose more than a de minimis burden. ” (That’sJustice Alito ’s description of the holding.) It amounts to a relatively lenient standard for employers, and given that lack of COVID-19 vaccination increases the risk of contagion of a serious illness, I think most courts most of the time will accept employers ’ argument that obligatory waivers would ask them to shoulder more than a de minimis burden.As usual with legal matters, though, it can get more complicated. Even with a not ‐​too‐​unfavorable ultimate standard, the current state of ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs