A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by healthcare workers who challenged Maine's COVID-19 vaccination mandate based on their religious objections, NBC affiliate WCSH reported Aug. 18.
The workers contend that the state mandate violates their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion and other federal constitutional and statutory rights because it does not allow for religious exemptions. They also claim their employers violated federal employment law by refusing to approve religious exemptions.
In an amended complaint, the workers list Maine Gov. Janet Mills and other state officials as defendants, as well as several organizations that run healthcare facilities in the state.
But Judge Jon David Levy, with the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, dismissed the case, saying that hospitals would violate the state law if they made accommodations for the seven workers who filed the complaint, WCSH reported. The judge also said the federal and state law do not conflict with each other, according to the news station.
Maine's vaccination mandate for healthcare workers, which took effect in October, does not allow for religious objections but does allow for medical exemptions.
The Supreme Court has previously rejected a challenge to Maine's vaccination mandate for healthcare workers. The nation's highest court also on June 30 decided it would not hear a challenge to New York's COVID-19 vaccination mandate for healthcare workers that, like Maine's, excludes religious exemptions.