New York must allow religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandate, judge rules

[PoliticAverse]

Oct 12 (Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that New York state cannot impose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on healthcare workers without allowing their employers to consider religious exemption requests.

U.S. District Judge David Hurd in Albany, New York, ruled that the state's workplace vaccination requirement conflicted with healthcare workers' federally protected right to seek religious accommodations from their employers.

The ruling provides a test case as vaccine mandate opponents gear up to fight plans by President Joe Biden's administration to extend COVID-19 inoculation requirements to tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans.

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Seventeen healthcare workers opposed to the mandate sued, saying the requirement violated their rights under the U.S. Constitution and a federal civil rights law requiring employers to reasonably accommodate employees' religious beliefs.

Read the rest at: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-york-must-allow-religious-exemptions-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-judge-rules-2021-10-12/

Wikipedia page on the Judge that issued the rule:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_N._Hurd

Hurd is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. Hurd was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 12, 1999, to a seat vacated by Constantine George Cholakis. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 13, 1999, and received commission on September 22, 1999.