Three workers cited religion but couldn't explain how testing violated their actual beliefs
A federal appeals court has ruled that saying workplace requirements violate your "moral conscience" is not enough to claim religious discrimination under employment law.
The Seventh Circuit delivered that message on February 13 when it affirmed the dismissal of claims brought by three Illinois school employees who refused both COVID-19 vaccination and weekly testing during the pandemic.
The case centered on what happened after Governor J.B. Pritzker issued an executive order in September 2021 requiring school personnel to either get vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. Amanda Humphreys, Latosha Bowlin, and Nicole Potthast all worked at different school districts and all sought religious exemptions from the vaccine requirement.
Their employers offered weekly testing as an accommodation. But all three refused that option too. Humphreys was suspended without pay and later terminated from North Mac CUSD No. 34. Bowlin was fired from Judah Christian School. Potthast was suspended without pay from Staunton CUSD No. 6.
The employees sued in November 2022, arguing their employers violated federal civil rights law by discriminating against them based on religion. They claimed the testing requirement violated their "moral consciences" because they should not have to submit to health care procedures they did not believe were medically necessary.
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