Vaccine Beliefs

In Wright v. Honeywell Int’l, a Title VII case about a COVID vaccination requirement, the Fifth Circuit held (citations omitted):

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Wright and drawing all reasonable inferences in his favor, a reasonable jury could find that Wright held at least a mixed motive for his vaccine refusal: a bona fide religious belief alongside political beliefs and personal preference. Wright’s evidence demonstrates a “moral or ethical” belief in bodily autonomy and freedom to choose what to put in his body.  The fact that he gave additional reasons for his vaccine refusal does not show that his belief is “merely a preferred practice.”  Instead, it simply shows that his vaccine refusal is grounded on both religious and nonreligious reasons. Furthermore, the inquiry on this prong is not “whether [Wright’s specific] belief is a true religious tenet” of the Baptist faith, but rather whether the belief is, “in his own scheme of things, religious.” Because a plaintiff’s sincerity in espousing a religious practice “is largely a matter of individual credibility,”  Wright’s evidence would be better weighed by a jury than by the court at the summary judgment stage.

A footnote considers whether future Supreme Court opinions may exclude “purely moral or ethical beliefs” from the protection of Title VII; cf. U.S. Const. amend. I (creating some tension when guarding against both “respecting an establishment of religion” and “prohibiting the free exercise thereof”).