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Jason Geller, an employment lawyer in San Francisco, has had a busy week handling calls and meetings with employers who had a critical question: how to best handle requests from employees seeking religious exemptions from the COVID vaccine -19?
“A lot of employers are starting to prepare for the assessment process whether someone has a ‘sincere religious belief’ or not,” said Geller, who works in the San Francisco office of law firm Fisher Phillips. “I’ve been getting a ton more calls about this lately. “
As local, state and federal vaccine mandates come into effect, more workplaces are requiring employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. But some workers invoke their religion to avoid being shot, triggering a tense dynamic that forces employers to discern between legitimate and less legitimate exemption requests, and to find ways to accommodate those granted such exemptions. requests on a case-by-case basis.
No major religion has publicly opposed the COVID-19 vaccination. Some religious leaders even approved of it: Pope Francis called the vaccination an “act of love” and rabbis from Orthodox Jewish communities across the country urged their followers to be vaccinated.
In some cases unrelated to the coronavirus, an expression of belief may preclude medical intervention. Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, do not allow blood transfusions, so followers may reject this procedure. (Faith says it is not opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine.) The Christian Science Church leaves the decision to vaccinate to its individual members, while Seventh-day Adventists encourage vaccination.
The choice between personal freedom and the well-being of society has caused an uproar in the workplace as some employees choose to remain unvaccinated – sometimes due to misunderstandings and misinformation about the vaccine. But some workers have legitimate concerns about getting vaccinated for medical reasons or because of personal beliefs that take the form of ideology or faith. This leaves employers grappling with the thorny question of where to draw the line between individual prerogative and the common good.
Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins, who resisted for weeks before changing course and announcing he had been vaccinated, had been denied a religious exemption request from the NBA. Hundreds of San Francisco police officers remain unvaccinated and await decisions on their religious exemption requests while the city determines staffing tasks.
Jason Geller, employment lawyer at the Fisher Phillips law firm, said: “More and more employers are starting to prepare for the assessment process whether someone has a ‘sincere religious belief’ or not. . “
Jana Asenbrennerova / Special for The ChronicleVaccination warrants have been legal in the United States for over a century. In 1905, the Jacobson v Massachusetts case, the authority of the Board of Health in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was upheld by requiring vaccinations against smallpox during an epidemic at the time.
“What is crucial about this law is that it can be invoked in the context of a public health emergency even if it infringes on individual freedoms,” said Dr Monica Gandhi, medical specialist in infectious diseases and professor at UCSF. “And the COVID-19 pandemic is truly a public health emergency. “
On the other hand, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 grants individuals the right to religious exemptions based on protections in place against religious discrimination in the workplace. For workers who genuinely hold religious beliefs, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodation, unless it poses undue hardship, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
One way to facilitate the granting of a religious exemption would be to review a person’s medical history, Gandhi said.
“Does this person have a proven history of refusing vaccination due to religious beliefs? Have they ever refused the flu shot or any other type of vaccine for religious reasons? ” she said. “These are the questions I would ask myself.
But it will be difficult to crack down on those who attempt to abuse religious exemptions, as it can be difficult to determine what a sincere religious belief is, said Dorit Reiss, a professor at UC Hastings who specializes in human rights law. vaccines.
“Employers cannot limit them to organized religion, as this would discriminate against those with sincere beliefs that are not part of an organized religion,” she said.
Jason Geller, an employment lawyer at law firm Fisher Phillips, has received calls from employers receiving requests for exemption from vaccination based on religion.
Jana Asenbrennerova / Special for The ChronicleAfter granting approval for a religious exemption request, employers will then decide what reasonable accommodation looks like for employees. United Airlines, for example, has said it will put hundreds of its unvaccinated employees on unpaid leave. Several United employees have taken legal action against the company.
Geller recently said he had 10 employer clients asking him for advice on religious exemption requests. His law firm exclusively represents employers, and Geller said the investigations represented a range of industries, including retail, education and manufacturing, among others.
He said court challenges were already on the rise and most would not focus on the sincerity of a person’s religious belief, but rather on the employer’s ability to respond to an exemption request.
“I think, given that COVID is in full force and poses a serious risk to human health, employers are going to have a strong case that there will be undue burden or difficulty in accommodating certain religious exemptions,” especially where spread is likely in the workplace. “
Shwanika Narayan is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @shwanika Instagram: @shwanika
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