The Supreme Court declined an opportunity to opine on the intersection between employees’ religious beliefs and employer mandatory COVID vaccine requirements.
On June 30, 2025, the Court declined to review a split decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (governing DE, NJ, PA, and U.S.V.I) dismissing Christian workers’ religion-based discrimination claims. In the case, the employer, a medical center, required all employee to receive the COVID vaccine, unless they have a medical or religious exemption. The employer rejected the plaintiffs’ requests for religious exemptions on the grounds of their stated belief that their bodies are G-d’s temples.
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals found that the plaintiffs’ refusal to get the COVID vaccine was based on their personal, secular, and medical beliefs and not religious beliefs, and cautioned against allowing employees to broadly invoke an overarching religious belief without directly connecting that religious belief to the objected-to employment term, which could impermissibly create a blanket privilege whenever an employee invokes religious scriptures.
Employers need to remain mindful that each jurisdiction interprets Title VII differently, so a case like this one could be decided differently in different jurisdictions. Be sure to contact counsel regarding the state of the law where you operate. We will continue to provide updates on these developments.