'The evidence is undisputed'
Master Sgt. Matt Dillon, 911th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, performs a safe for maintenance observation on a C-17 Globemaster III at the Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania, Nov. 3, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Joshua J. Seybert)
An Ohio court Tuesday upheld a legal pause on separations for airmen who have requested religious exemptions to the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine after finding that the Air Force “wrongly” relied on overly broad reasoning to turn down the waivers.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in an ongoing class action suit prosecuted by roughly 10,000 unvaccinated active-duty, reserve and National Guard airmen who have either had their requests to avoid the vaccine on religious grounds denied or still await a decision. A circuit court in March ordered the Department of Defense (DOD), which has mandated vaccinations for all members of the military, to hold off on disciplining or separating airmen while the lawsuit progresses.
The DOD “wrongly relied on its ‘broadly formulated’ reasons for the vaccine mandate to deny specific exemptions to the Plaintiffs, especially since it has granted secular exemptions to their colleagues,” the court opinion said.
In addition, the latest opinion from Ohio’s 6th Circuit court alleges that the Air Force adopted a “uniform” policy of denying religious exemption requests, but not exemption requests made for secular reasons, regardless of the requester’s individual circumstances.