by Jorge Gomez, Director of Content Strategist • 3 minutes
There’s an old saying that just because you lose one battle, it does not mean you lost the war.
The same goes for the legal battle for religious freedom in America. Just because one case doesn’t end in a victory, it does not mean that we’re done fighting.
On the contrary, when we get a disappointing outcome or a ruling doesn’t go our way, it only strengthens our resolve to continue fighting.
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear our case on behalf of several firefighters in Snohomish, Washington, who were punished and put on unpaid leave for requesting religious accommodations.
Even though that’s the end of the road for that case, First Liberty’s work is far from finished.
We recently filed our opening brief on behalf of a different group of firefighters who faced discrimination at work. We’re asking the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule in favor of eight firefighters in Redmond, Washington who were denied religious accommodation from the COVID-19 vaccine and ultimately fired for their faith.
Initially, all eight firefighters received religious exemptions. But those were soon revoked following an executive order from the mayor, influenced by the City’s fire chief, who disapproved of the religious exemptions.
The order exclusively applied to firefighters, as the mayor wanted “consequences for the unvaccinated” for “public perception” purposes. It required all firefighters to get vaccinated, but did not pertain to other first responders, such as police officers.
In October 2021, before the mandate went into effect, all but one of the firefighters applied for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allowed more time to find a solution before returning back to work. The firefighter who did not use FMLA was terminated that November.
The City and the firefighters’ union negotiated an agreement identifying positions where vaccination would not be required. But instead of offering those jobs to the unvaccinated firefighters, city officials deliberately hid the open positions from the men, told them the jobs were not available, and hired vaccinated firefighters to fill those spots instead.
In the spring of 2022, the firemen returned to work, only to find their positions had all been filled. Eventually, the remaining firefighters were terminated.
“Denying a reasonable religious accommodation without proof of undue hardship ended with the Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision in Groff v. DeJoy,” said First Liberty Senior Counsel Cliff Martin. “The government cannot erase a religious accommodation simply because leaders decide there should be ‘consequences for the unvaccinated.’”
Six years have passed since the COVID-19 epidemic. But even though the pandemic is behind us, its side effects linger—especially the damage done to religious liberty.
So many people of faith were harmed by government overreach. Countless Americans were singled out and unlawfully punished because of their religious beliefs on vaccine mandates. Many who were wronged and discriminated against during the pandemic are still fighting their cases.
Today, First Liberty is handling more workplace discrimination cases than ever before.
We’re in the midst of intense legal battles. These cases will impact the rights of all Americans to live, work and do business in a manner that’s consistent with their convictions.
Employees of faith deserve equal opportunities in the workplace—and First Liberty will continue to fight in court so that no American is forced to choose between their faith and job.
