In Bowlin v. Board of Directors, Judah Christian School, (7th Circuit, Feb. 13, 2026), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held that moral objections that are not also religiously based are not protected by Title VII. The court said in part:
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor of Illinois required all school employees to either receive a vaccination or undergo weekly testing for the virus. Plaintiffs—three employees at different Illinois grade schools—refused to receive a vaccination, citing their religious beliefs. When the schools offered weekly testing as an accommodation, Plaintiffs claimed the testing also violated their moral consciences and refused. As a result, they were either placed on unpaid leave or terminated....
Although “a ‘religious’ objection can sound in both religious and non-religious terms,” ... here, Plaintiffs do not moor their objections to the testing requirement to any religious beliefs. Their only relevant allegation is that their “moral consciences … prevent them from submitting to health care procedures which they, competent adults, do not believe are medically necessary.” This, on its own, fails to plausibly allege that the request is “based in part on an aspect of [Plaintiffs’] religious belief or practice” because Plaintiffs do not identify what belief or practice the testing would violate.,,,
Nevertheless, even assuming Plaintiffs had adequately alleged that Defendants violated their religious beliefs, their claim still fails because the accommodation they request would require Defendants to violate the law, thereby imposing upon them an undue hardship,,,,
HRD reported on the decision.
