Tag: COVID Vaccine Mandate

Courts Finally Scrutinize COVID Vaccine Mandates as Religious Infringement

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COVID Vaccine Protest

Three years after COVID-19 vaccines became widely available to adults – at which point the CDC already knew they couldn’t stop transmission – courts are finally starting to put their foot down on the most basic legal question: Are mandates at least applied fairly, if not scientifically?

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals not only knocked down the University of Colorado medical school’s original and revised 2021 mandates for discriminating against employees seeking religious exemptions, but knocked the trial judge for “abuse of discretion” by reversing the burden of proof to moot the case.

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Congress Won’t Reinstate Troops Discharged for Violating the COVID Vaccine Mandate

Minnesota Sun Staff

Thousands of troops already discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine won’t return to service after Congress’ last-minute defense bill sought to overturn the Pentagon’s mandate.

The Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps have separated at least 8,400 active duty and reserve troops for spurning the Department of Defense’s (DOD) August 2021 requirement that all servicemembers receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to information the DOD provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. While the compromise legislation released late Tuesday directs the Pentagon to rescind the mandate, it stops short of requiring the military to restore discharged troops to their prior positions or provide reparations.

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New York City Education Department Fires 850 More Teachers for Refusing COVID Vaccine

Susan Berry, PhD

The New York City Department of Education has fired another 850 teachers and aides for refusing to comply with its COVID vaccine mandate, bringing the total number of school staff terminated over the mRNA shots that have not prevented the spread of infection to 2,000.

Some 1,300 department employees agreed to comply with the vaccine mandate by September 5 after taking a year of unpaid leave with benefits, the New York Post reported. The department informed personnel they would have to be vaccinated by that date or be “deemed to have voluntarily resigned.”

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Healthcare Workers Win $10.3 Million Settlement in Class Action Lawsuit over COVID Vaccine Mandate

Susan Berry, PhD

The nation’s first class action lawsuit for healthcare workers fighting COVID vaccine mandates has led to a $10.3 million settlement agreement, filed Friday, for the workers who were denied religious exemptions from the COVID shot mandate and terminated when they did not comply.

Liberty Counsel settled the lawsuit on behalf of more than 500 current and former healthcare workers from NorthShore University HealthSystem in Illinois who argued they were victims of religious discrimination.

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Minneapolis, St. Paul Lift Vaccine Mandates on Bars and Restaurants

Minnesota Sun Staff

Minneapolis and St. Paul rescinded their vaccine-or-test mandates on bars and restaurants Thursday, effective immediately.

The cities cited a significant decrease in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. In Ramsey County, where St. Paul is located, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have dropped by 57.8% and 37.8% in the last seven days, respectively.

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Minneapolis Bagel Shop Says ‘All Are Welcome Here’ After Closing Indoor Dining Due to COVID Vaccine Mandate

Hayley Feland

A bagel shop in Minneapolis made the decision to close indoor dining on Wednesday due to the COVID vaccine mandate taking effect. Rise Bagel Co., an organic artisan bagelry located in the North Loop of Minneapolis, announced in social media posts on Tuesday that they made the “tough decision” to close their indoor dining, saying that “All are welcome here.”

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Judge Suspends COVID Vaccine Mandate for Military Service Members Seeking Religious Exemption

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Navy cannot force service members with religious objections to COVID-19 vaccines to take them so long as the exemption process remains “by all accounts … theater,” a federal judge ruled Monday.

“Our nation asks the men and women in our military to serve, suffer, and sacrifice. But we do not ask them to lay aside their citizenry and give up the very rights they have sworn to protect,” U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor wrote in approving a preliminary injunction against the mandate as applied to the 35 service members who sued.

“Every president since the signing of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act has praised the men and women of the military for their bravery and service in protecting the freedoms this country guarantees,” O’Connor said.

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Lawyer Suing Indiana University for COVID Vaccine Mandate Expanding Effort to ‘Four or Five States’

Minnesota Sun Staff

The lawyer representing students challenging Indiana University’s COVID vaccine mandate has been “retained by students in other states to bring similar claims,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

Veteran litigator James Bopp told the John Solomon Reports podcast that he expects to file suit in another “four or five states in the next couple of weeks.”

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