Excerpts from Press Release on September 2, 2021
NY’s Unlawful Attempt to Refuse Religious Exemptions
Liberty Counsel sent a demand letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, and Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard A. Zucker, regarding the unlawful attempt to remove religious exemptions and accommodations from New York’s COVID shot mandate. Liberty Counsel is prepared to file a lawsuit if the state does not respond and honor these federal protections and entitlements for health care employees by Tuesday, September 7, 2021.
According to a 2018 State University of New York (SUNY) study, there are approximately 450,000 workers employed by hospitals in the state of New York. Many of these employees are requesting religious exemptions and accommodations because they have sincerely held religious beliefs regarding the use of aborted fetal cell lines in the injections.
The State’s Public Health and Health Planning Council eliminated an exemption and accommodation for religious reasons on August 26.
State officials cannot override federal law or the federal Constitution. New York’s purported guidance and attempts to remove federal protections and even religious exemptions available under federal law are causing direct and irreparable harm. In addition, all health care workers are protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act which does provide for religious exemptions and accommodations and mandates that employers provide them.
Furthermore, COVID shots cannot be mandatory under Title VII. In general, employee vaccine religious exemption requests must be accommodated where a reasonable accommodation exists without undue hardship to the employer, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “There can be no dispute that New York is required to abide by federal law and provide protections to employees who have sincerely held religious objections to the COVID shots. New York cannot override federal law and force health care workers to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs by forcing them to inject an experimental substance. All New York health care workers have the legal right to request reasonable accommodation for their sincerely held religious beliefs and forcing COVID shots without exemptions is unlawful. These superheroes should not be treated as villains.”
Health care workers who do not want to take the shot because of a religious reason should still ask their employers for a religious exemption
For Information on how to write a religious exemption letter and
also for legal help if/when one is denied an RE, go to:
