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Santa Clara employees sue county officials over COVID vaccine mandate's religious exemptions

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RECORD

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Santa Clara employees sue county officials over COVID vaccine mandate's religious exemptions

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Gondeiro | provided

A group of Santa Clara County employees has sued government officials over their COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Unify Santa Clara County (UnifySCC) named the County’s public health officer Sara Cody, County counsel James Williams, and County executive Jeffrey Smith as defendants.

“Dozens of county employees in Santa Clara County have been out of work for several months now because they won’t take the COVID 19 vaccine but what’s interesting about this case is that their sincerely held religious beliefs have been approved but they haven't been granted reasonable accommodations,” said Mariah Gondeiro, an attorney for Advocates for Faith and Freedom who represents the plaintiffs.

In August 2021, Smith, Williams, and Cody issued a policy requiring all County employees to be vaccinated or to request an exemption.

UnifySCC members have religious beliefs that prevent them from taking the COVID-19 vaccine or booster and the complaint alleges that they have not been accommodated in the same way that employees with medical exemptions have been, according to a press release.

“Santa Clara County has consistently treated religious people as second-class citizens imposing harsher restrictions on religious gatherings and now not even giving religious people religious accommodations, like they are supposed to under the law,” Gondeiro told the Southern California Record.

Gondeiro also represents Calvary Chapel Church in their litigation against Santa Clara County involving Pastor Mike McClure who held indoor services for its 1,800 members during the pandemic despite state orders that prohibited the gathering.

“It’s just a blatant violation of the First Amendment because they're prioritizing employees with medical objections,” Gondeiro said about UnifySCC’s lawsuit. “They didn't engage in good faith negotiations to determine whether a reasonable accommodation was available. They just denied them and put them on administrative unpaid leave.”

The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of California San Jose Division on Feb. 18.

“The main cause of action is the free exercise clause because you can't treat religious people differently,” she said. “They are prioritizing medical exemptions over religious exemptions and the government has no compelling interest to treat these similarly situated individuals differently based on religion.”

Another cause of action detailed in the complaint is violations of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act

“We're seeking damages and immediate injunctive relief. We actually have a hearing next week on Thursday to determine whether we will get an injunction put in place. Aside from that, even if we don't win the injunction, we are seeking damages against the county for all these employees, which include lost pay and other employment benefits they lost.”

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