It is unfortunate that many employers in California continue rejecting their employee’s valid medical exemption and religious exemption requests from the requirement to be vaccinated. In many cases, these denials are patently unlawful, violating California Fair Employment and Housing act, among other laws. Employers often justify these denials by claiming that these decisions are made due to “business necessity” or “to protect others” without making any actual assessment as to whether these reasons are legitimate in a specific situation.
Denials of such exemption requests are particularly hard to justify and are more likely to be illegal with respect to remote workers, who rarely or never come in physical contact with their co-workers or public at large.
It will likely take significant litigation to send employers a message that they must take the rights of their employees to have medical or religious exemption from the requirement to be vaccinated seriously.