In Ellison v. Inova Health Care Services, three hospital employees sued because their claims for religious exemptions from the Covid vaccine mandate were rejected. They asserted that their employer violated Title VII by failing to accommodate their religious beliefs. The court found that only the aborted fetal cell objections of one defendant were adequately linked in the pleadings to plaintiff's religious beliefs. Other objections to the vaccine were not religious in nature. The court said in part:
In Ellison’s request for exception, he claims that, as a Christian, he has a right to refuse the vaccine. Specifically, he claims that the Bible requires Christians to treat their bodies as “temple[s] of the Holy Spirit,” meaning that he is “compel[led]” to care for his mind and body.... And because, in his view, taking the COVID-19 vaccine would “introduce to [his] body a medication that could induce harm,” he claims that complying with the hospital’s policy would be “antithetical to [his] desire to honor God.”...
... [T]he Court finds that, though couched in religious terms, Ellison refused the vaccines based on concerns of vaccine safety.
Two of the plaintiffs claimed that they pray over their health care decisions and follow God's answers. The court rejected this, calling it an unverifiable claim of a blanket privilege that undermines our system of ordered liberty.
