Plaintiffs, three employees at Illinois grade schools, filed a lawsuit after they were either put on unpaid leave or terminated by their employers for refusing to comply with state requirements that they either receive a Covid-19 vaccination or undergo weekly testing. Plaintiffs alleged that the schools’ actions violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscious Act. The district court dismissed the complaint and plaintiffs appealed and contested the dismissal of their Title VII claim, arguing for the first time that it also violated the Illinois Public Health Code. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that plaintiffs did not identify a religious objection to the schools’ requirement that they undergo weekly testing and that Title VII did not require the schools to contradict the Governor’s Executive Order. (EASTERBROOK and KIRSCH, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Vaccine Mandate