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Courts Side With NY Health Care Workers Seeking Religious Exemptions, Reject Vaccine Appeal By NYC Teachers
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Oct 12, 2021
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By
Caroline Lewis
Published Oct 12, 2021
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New York can’t stop hospital and nursing homes workers from seeking religious exemptions to the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Requiring workers to get vaccinated without allowing for such exemptions “conflicts with longstanding federal protections for religious beliefs,” Judge David Hurd of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of New York wrote in his decision.
The policy requiring all hospital, nursing home and home care staff to get vaccinated against the coronavirus was initially issued under the Cuomo administration and allowed for both medical and religious exemptions. In late August, state health officials eliminated the provision allowing people to opt out based on religious beliefs—--a move that Gov. Kathy Hochul has supported.
A group of 17 health care workers sued Hochul and members of her administration over the policy last month. They said it violated their First Amendment rights and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees’ religious beliefs. They initially won a temporary restraining order preventing the state from interfering with health care employers’ ability to grant religious exemptions. After reviewing further evidence submitted by both sides, Judge Hurd issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday that effectively extended that order.
“This is very clearly a decision supporting the Constitutional rights of these medical workers whose requests for religious exemption to the vaccine mandate were rejected by Governor Hochul and her administration,” Stephen Crampton, senior council for the Thomas More Society, the pro-life law firm representing the plaintiffs in the case, said in a statement following the ruling.
An appeal is likely. Hochul said she will work to get the ruling reversed in an effort to promote public health.
"My responsibility as Governor is to protect the people of this state, and requiring health care workers to get vaccinated accomplishes that,” Hochul said in a statement Tuesday. “I stand behind this mandate, and I will fight this decision in court to keep New Yorkers safe."
Most hospital and nursing home staff were already required to show proof of their first COVID-19 shots by September 27th, while home care workers had until October 7th. Health care employers have already started placing those who are out of compliance on unpaid leave or firing them. SUNY Downstate Medical Center had to temporarily cancel surgeries and other services as the mandate took effect, and Northwell Health let go 1,400 employees over the state vaccine mandate.
But some workers seeking religious exemptions have remained in limbo. WNYC/Gothamist has reached out to several hospital systems for comment on how they are handling religious exemptions in light of the latest ruling.
Even if the decision is upheld, that doesn’t mean everyone seeking a religious exemption will get one.
“One of the implications is that there has to be an opportunity for employees to request accommodation,” said Alicia Ouellette, president and dean of Albany Law School. “It doesn't mean the employee is going to get the accommodation or that the employer is required to accommodate.”
New York City’s vaccine mandate for Department of Education workers allows employees to seek religious exemptions. Many—but not all—of those requests have been granted. Ahead of the September 27th vaccine deadline, the city had already approved more than 500 such requests, a DOE spokesperson said at the time.
Still, DOE staff who sought to block the mandate in court after it went into effect claimed the city was being “openly hostile” toward people’s religious beliefs. A federal judge in Manhattan said at a hearing on the case Tuesday there was no evidence of such hostility and declined to grant the plaintiffs’ request. DOE staff who have been granted exemptions so far represent more than 20 different religions, Lora Minicucci, an attorney for the city, said at the hearing.
No major religion has stated that people should not get vaccinated against COVID-19. But plaintiffs in the case challenging the state mandate say they have sincerely held religious objections to the COVID-19 vaccines that are currently available.
Tagged
COVID-19
new york city
vaccine mandate
new york
health
Governor Kathy Hochul
vaccine hesitancy
Caroline Lewis
Caroline Lewis is on the health care beat for WNYC and Gothamist. She has covered COVID, a nurses' strike, the overdose crisis and New York’s marijuana legalization effort, and spent a year investigating patients' medical bills. She always wants to hear about how everyday New Yorkers experience the health system. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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