A child welfare worker who chose resignation over a COVID-19 jab has lost his religious discrimination appeal.
The worker served 19 families for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. His days involved home visits, supervised parenting time, transporting a child with significant medical issues to Boston Children’s Hospital, and weekly emergency on-call shifts. The job, the court noted, was “not compatible with working exclusively from home.”
When Governor Charles D. Baker’s Executive Order No. 595 required all state employees to get vaccinated in August 2021, the worker sought a religious exemption. His proposal: masks in every setting, weekly testing, and more remote work.
The department denied it, finding his alternatives offered comparatively weak protection for the vulnerable populations he served. Faced with the needle or the door, he resigned in October 2021.
He sued under G. L. c. 151B, s 4 (1A), Massachusetts’ anti-discrimination statute. His argument was blunt: the vaccine does not actually prevent infection or transmission, so exempting him would cause no hardship.
The department brought receipts. Affidavits from five officials - including the medical director of the state’s bureau of infectious disease and laboratory sciences, board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases - laid out the health risks and the inadequacy of non-pharmaceutical alternatives.
The worker filed no expert evidence in response.
The Superior Court granted...
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