A federal appeals court in New Orleans can extend anti-discrimination law’s reach into the workplace in a case involving a religious challenge to a health-care company’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate.
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will hear oral argument Monday in a bid by former workers at Caris Life Sciences Inc. and Caris MPI Inc. to block the company’s vaccination requirement. A district court in Texas denied the workers’ request for a preliminary injunction in 2021.
The workers rely on the Fifth Circuit’s February decision that allowed two United Airlines Inc. employees to seek a court order under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to halt the airline’s Covid-19 shot policy, which put unvaccinated employees on unpaid leave.
The Fifth Circuit’s consideration of the Caris case gives it the chance to codify its groundbreaking decision in Sambrano v. United Airlines—which was unpublished, meaning it’s not binding precedent and applies only to the dispute at hand—by adopting its reasoning in a published opinion. The facts of the Caris case also open the door for the court to build on Sambrano to broaden when a worker can get a preliminary injunction to halt alleged discrimination.
“This case could show whether Sambrano was good for one ticket only or if it opened up a new world of remedies for Title VII,” said Sean Marotta, an appellate...
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