A woman was fired by the University of Virginia Health System because she declined to get the COVID vaccination and requested a religious exemption, but a court has overturned that decision.
According to court filings, Virginia District Judge Claude V. Worrell determined this past week that Kaycee McCoy, a cytotechnologist with the UVA health care system for over ten years, had been unfairly dismissed.
“Due to UVA’s arbitrariness and caprice, this court removes their decision to terminate Plaintiff for not receiving the Covid-19 vaccination. As long as she continues to be eligible for a religious accommodation that was correctly sought, they are therefore prohibited from refusing to hire her on the basis of vaccination,” the judge said, according to a ruling initially published by the Epoch Times.
McCoy should receive back salary with interest from the moment she was fired to the time Worrell made his conclusion, according to Worrell’s ruling.
McCoy was dismissed in November 2021 after she requested a religious exemption from the COVID vaccination with a letter from her pastor. McCoy assisted in the detection of cancer cells and other pathological diseases. According to Worrell’s ruling, she was not given the chance to challenge the denial of her application.
Glenn Youngkin, a Republican governor of Virginia, repealed the vaccination requirement for public employees, although organizations that accept Medicare and Medicaid funds remained subject to some federal vaccination requirements. Worrell pointed out that there are still exclusions for these laws based on religion and health.
The Supreme Court rejected Biden’s worker vaccination requirement after being sued by many organizations, including The Daily Wire, however, healthcare employees were still subject to the requirement until June 2023.
The health system should have permitted a religious exemption in this case even if the judge stated that religious freedom was not unalienable due to the fact that the applicant had provided proof of her “sincerely held religious beliefs which enabled her to request an exception.”
First Liberty Counsel, an organization that promotes religious freedom, applauded the judge’s ruling.
“This is a significant win for religious freedom and for individuals who have refused to comply with these illegitimate shot regulations. It is seriously unlawful to make a person choose between their employment and their honest religious convictions. The ability to request a religious exemption is protected by law and cannot be arbitrarily refused,” according to Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel.
