Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of federally protected classes, including religion, and provides that applicable employers must provide a religious accommodation to an employee who holds a “sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance” against a workplace requirement. Reasons for refusal are wide-ranging, with some based on credible concerns and others being much more subjective.Ĭurrently in the United States, it is legally permissible for employers to require COVID-19 vaccinations so long as there are medical and religious accommodations available in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Some may feel concern or anger at being told how they must handle important and personal medical decisions. They may feel the policy unnecessarily overreaching or discriminatory, or perhaps presumptuous and hasty. Unvaccinated employees may have any number of personal responses to a policy of vaccine mandates. We would like to bring to the reader’s attention our perspective and experience on these important issues as they navigate these difficult questions. Many Christians are considering the ethics and wisdom of these situations for the first time, fielding advice and anecdotes from a variety of sources. (It should be noted that some versions of these requirements do allow for individuals to forgo the vaccine in exchange for submitting to routine COVID-19 testing.)Īs an ethicist and attorney practicing religious liberty law, we have engaged in dozens of conversations over the past few weeks regarding vaccination mandates, as well as religious exemptions. These requirements dictate that all employees, whatever their personal reservations might be, must be vaccinated by a specified date or else face repercussions ranging from required masking, testing, and isolation to different assignments to formal termination. An individual can sign their own declination form that explains that the worker is declining vaccination based on religious beliefs.įarrington talked about the letters during an appearance on KCRA 3 Monday morning.Flagging vaccination rates over the summer of 2021 combined with a sudden surge of the COVID-19 delta variant in recent weeks have prompted many businesses and organizations, and even some state and federal government entities, to implement vaccination requirements for employees. The department also pointed out that it is not necessary to have a letter from a church to qualify for a religious exemption. When KCRA 3 News reached out to the Placer County Public Health Department for comment, it stressed that the vaccine is the most important tool to curb the spread of COVID-19. Will we see this going to court? I'm sure we will." "I think people will lose their jobs if they refuse to take the vaccines even if they have exemptions for some positions because the law does not require employers to keep employees on the job if they can't do it," Jacobs said. That means refusing the vaccine could cost some people their jobs. "If we've got employees who have a front-facing job where they have to see people, it would be more than a minimal burden to put them in a non-front-facing position and an employer probably would not be required to do that," Jacobs said. Those accommodations can include allowing employees to take COVID-19 tests instead. Someone sent me an Instagram, and I just got up, started listening to the services here and I drove all the way here to support them in this," Miller said.Ī professor at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, Leslie Gielow Jacobs, explains that employers can legally require employees to take vaccines as long as they make reasonable accommodations for sincere religious beliefs, which impose a minimal burden on the employer. "I just found out about this at 4 in the morning. Crystal Miller of Merced said she drove for more than two hours. In addition to regulars showing up, there were people who said they went specifically because they heard about the exemption letters. Parking at the church was scarce on Sunday. The letters, signed by Farrington, detail a religious objection to getting the COVID-19 vaccine that people can show their employer. State workers, teachers and health care workers in California are facing requirements to show proof that they have been vaccinated or to take regular tests for COVID-19 if they cite religious or medical exemptions. That's just not right, here in America," Fairrington said. "You have the freedom to choose, and nobody should be able to mandate that you have to take a vaccine or you lose your job. During Sunday service, Pastor Greg Fairrington of Destiny Christian Church explained his reasons for offering the exemption letters.
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