A divided Fourth Circuit allowed an employee to proceed with a Title VII claim challenging her employer’s denial of her religious exemption from a COVID-19 vaccination requirement. The decision illustrates the risk an employer takes in denying an employee’s religious accommodation request because the employer considers the employee’s stated belief insufficiently religious.
The employee tied her objection to her belief that her body is a temple, although she also described vaccination as a personal decision and raised nonreligious safety concerns. The district court had concluded that her objection reflected personal preference rather than religious belief. The appeals court disagreed, finding enough evidence for a jury to decide whether her refusal was grounded in religion. The majority stressed that beliefs may remain protected even when they are discerned individually, mixed with secular concerns, or expressed inconsistently. The dissent would have required stronger evidence connecting the employee’s refusal to her religion.
Click here to read more from the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association. Employers seeking guidance on accommodation requests can register for CWC’s Navigating the Reasonable Accommodation Process training.