In Does v. Hochul, (ED NY, Sept. 30, 2022), a New York federal district court dismissed challenges to New York's COVID vaccine mandate for healthcare workers brought by five employees with religious objections to the vaccine. In evaluating plaintiffs' free exercise claims, the court concluded that the regulation, which contains no religious exemption, is subject only to rational basis review, saying in part:
The plaintiffs argue that the mandate is not neutral because it includes a medical exemption, and thus “treats religious exemptions less favorably than some nonreligious exemptions;” in the plaintiffs’ words, this “double standard is not a neutral standard.”...
Section 2.61 is neutral on its face. It does not refer to religion at all, and applies to “all persons employed or affiliated with a covered entity” who could “potentially expose other covered personnel, patients or residents to” COVID-19; the only exception is for employees with medical conditions that qualify for a medical exemption...
The rule at issue in this case involves no “singling out” of religious employees. Indeed, Section 2.61 applies equally to all employees who can be vaccinated safely, regardless of their religious beliefs or practices, whether they have political objections to the vaccine, or question their efficacy or safety, or any of the many other reasons that people choose not to get vaccinated....
The court also rejected plaintiffs' Title VII challenge, saying in part:
The sole “accommodation” the plaintiffs seek—a religious exemption from the vaccine requirement— would impose an undue hardship on the Private Defendants because it would require them to violate state law.
