Federal judge strikes down NY vaccine mandate that excludes religious objection

A federal judge in Utica has ruled that the State Department of Health cannot impose a vaccine mandate on healthcare workers without allowing them to assert a religious objection.

The case is Dr. A v. Hochul (opinion embedded in article at this link), issued by Judge Hurd on October 12. On August 23, the DOH issued an order stating it would only recognize medical objections to the mandate. This mandate therefore revolved a religious objection that the DOH had authorized on August 18. Plaintiffs sued, arguing their religious objection draws from "the sincere religious belief that they cannot consent to be inoculated ... with vaccines that were tested, developed or produced with fetal cell lines derived from procured abortions."

The plaintiffs invoke Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits religious discrimination in employment, in claiming the DOH mandate violates federal law. Employers must consider in good faith whether the employee is entitled to an accommodation for their religious practices. That  accommodation must be granted unless it would pose an undue hardship on the employer. For this reason, Judge Hurd finds, the mandate "stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution" of Title VII of 1964.

Plaintiffs also raise a constitutional objection to the DOH under the free exercise clause, which protects religious freedom. Laws and regulations that burden religious practices are subjected to "strict scrutiny," which is a difficult hurdle for the government to overcome, as the laws must both promote a compelling governmental interest and be narrowly tailored to promote that interest. If the law is neutral and applies to everyone, then strict scrutiny does not apply and the law will be upheld if the government can articulate any "rational" basis for it, which means the justification will be upheld even if the justification is arguable. This regulation is subject to strict scrutiny because the it was amended on August 23 to remove the religious exception, "the kind of 'religious gerrymander' that triggers strict scrutiny," Judge Hurd says.

Having settled on the standard of review (strict scrutiny), the Court strikes down the regulation as it applies to religious objectors. Since the medical exception remains in the regulation, and the state therefore accepts a risk for these healthcare workers who can assert such an exception, the regulation is not narrowly-tailored to suppress and eliminate the virus. "There is no adequate explanation from defendants about why the 'reasonable accommodation' that must be extended to a medically exempt healthcare worker [under the regulation] could not be similarly extended to a healthcare worker with a sincere religious objection." Since the DOH regulation is not narrowly tailored, the Northern District of New York strikes it down.