Brian Festa

Religious accommodations in the workplace are not optional, and are not nullified during a pandemic.

On February 16,  the legislature’s Public Health Committee conducted a public hearing on two bills, S.B. 568 and H.B. 6423, both of which would eliminate the religious exemption to mandatory vaccinations for Connecticut schoolchildren.  The hearing was capped at 24 hours, depriving nearly 1,500 members of the public who had registered for the hearing their opportunity to be heard.  The vast majority of those who did testify, and who submitted written testimony, opposed the bill.  The committee is expected to vote on the bill as early as  today. 

The Supreme Court of the United States, while never precisely defining “religion,” has clearly stated that a law violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment if it gives preference to objections founded in theistic beliefs over those that stem from one’s moral, ethical, or philosophical beliefs.