The right to refuse a workplace vaccination based on religious grounds comes primarily from
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). This law applies to local, state and federal governments, as well as private employers with 15 or more employees. Title VII protects employees from discrimination on a variety of characteristics, including religion.
To decide if a religious exemption under Title VII allows an employee to avoid getting a coronavirus vaccine, the employee must prove two things: they have a sincerely held religious belief and not getting vaccinated does not impose an undue hardship on the employer.
Sincerely Held Religious Belief
To receive protection under Title VII, the belief must be religious and it must be sincerely held.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) interprets the concept of religious belief in an expansive manner. Besides the tenants of many traditional and common organized religions, it can include moral and non-theistic ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong. And a religious belief does not need to be widely held, but can be new, uncommon or be separate from a formal religious sect, group or denomination.
Despite this broad take on what constitutes a religious belief, they do not include personal or political beliefs.
A religious belief is sincerely held if the employee honestly holds that belief. In most cases, this element is assumed. However, there may sometimes be evidence that indicates the religious belief an employee relies on to request an accommodation is not sincerely held.
Undue Hardship Under Title VII
Even if the employee has a sincerely held religious belief, the employer does not have to allow for the vaccine exemption if providing this accommodation would constitute an undue hardship on the employer.
An undue hardship is something that imposes more than a minimal burden on the employer. If a requested accommodation would result in staffing shortages, cost more than a minimal amount of money or jeopardizes the health or safety of others, it will likely constitute an undue burden.
Assuming the employer has a legitimate concern for the health and safety of its workers, customers and anyone else in its workplace, it’s easy to imagine how a coronavirus vaccine refusal would result in an undue burden on the employer in most situations.
However, it’s also possible there is an accommodation that imposes only a minimal burden on the employer and provides an equivalent level of protection from coronavirus infection or spread. Depending on the nature of the job, this might allow the employee seeking the vaccination exemption the ability to work from home or with a mask on.
The Medical Exemption
If an employee has a certain medical issue, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) may allow them to be exempt from an employer’s coronavirus vaccination mandate.
For the ADA to provide this exemption, the employee needs to show that they have an ADA-recognized disability that prevents them from taking the coronavirus vaccine and that this vaccination exemption does not impose an undue hardship on the employer.
More:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomspig...h=2ab4ba9c6eb4
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