More than 30 current and former employees of Santa Clara County, California, sued the county Aug. 18 for requiring them to get the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021, which they said was against their religious beliefs.
According to the complaint, the 33 plaintiffs allege the county discriminated against them on the basis of religion by violating their religious exemptions from getting the vaccine. The county had formerly issued religious exemptions to nearly all of the employees who applied for them, but later informed them that the “high-risk nature of their jobs” required them to get the vaccine or face unpaid administrative leave for an indefinite period of time.
According to a news release from Advocates for Faith and Freedom, one of the legal organizations representing the plaintiffs, several positions were “wrongly classified as high risk — such as the roofer who worked alone in the open air.” The complaint states that many of the plaintiffs were or are currently employed by the county in law enforcement or health care fields.
The organization added that the employees were not given accommodations to allow them to continue working, such as masking and testing, even though the rest of the state of California allowed non-vaccinated employees to return to work under those conditions.
Advocates for Faith and Freedom stated that a federal judge has already found in another related case that one of the county’s policies on the vaccine likely operated “in a way that targets” religious practice and disadvantaged religious exemptions compared to secular exemptions.” The policy had exempted employees with disabilities or medical risks from getting the vaccine.
Sam Kane, an attorney with Advocates for Faith and Freedom, stated in the release that the plaintiffs “were willing to give up everything, including livelihoods, health insurance and, in some cases, their houses and personal belongings, to remain faithful to their beliefs.”
He added, “Discrimination and the needless harm to people because of their faith cannot be tolerated.”
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Author: Hannah Hiester
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