The request arrived at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in early September.
Written on letterhead with a gold seal, it warned the city agency that forcing an employee to wear a mask, get tested or be vaccinated against COVID-19 would be an “affront to a Christian” and a violation of federal laws that ban religious discrimination.
The document looked and sounded official. It was signed by the pastor of True Hope Ministry in San Clemente.
It can be purchased online for $195 as part of a vaccine exemption “concierge program.”
That letter, and others like it, have become go-to tools for California employees seeking exemptions from workplace vaccine mandates. They raise questions about what constitutes a deeply held religious belief, how those beliefs should be expressed and what employers can do about a request that may not be sincere.
Through public records requests, The Times amassed more than 2,200 pages of emails, letters and other records related to religious waivers from vaccine rules. The documents, from four public employers, show just how complicated it can be to review vaccine exemption requests. They also reveal a cottage industry that has sprung up to help people justify decisions to refuse vaccination.
Some employees at the DWP, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and two Southern California school districts cited Scripture and described their relationships with their faith. But the majority of exemption requests reviewed by The Times were copied...
A former Tasmanian nurse has had her registration cancelled after a tribunal found she falsely claimed qualifications when applying for paramedic and senior nursing jobs. In a decision handed down...