Religious Liberty Can Be Accommodated Even in a Public Health Emergency

​When the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the nation, employers and governments faced difficult decisions. But difficult circumstances do not erase constitutional principles. That is why Protect The 1st has filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Petersen v. Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue, a case involving firefighters who sought religious accommodations from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. 

At stake is a fundamental First Amendment freedom – the free exercise of religion.

The firefighters in this case did not refuse to work. They sought accommodations that would allow them to continue serving the public while remaining faithful to their sincerely held religious beliefs. For roughly 20 months, the department allowed safety measures such as testing, masking, distancing, and other precautions. Then, despite those accommodations, the firefighters were placed on leave. 
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Protect The 1st’s brief argues that lower courts have drifted away from the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Groff v. DeJoy (2023), which strengthened protections for religious employees under federal law. Under Groff, employers must show that a requested accommodation would impose a substantial burden on their operations. Mere speculation or generalized concerns are not enough. 

That standard matters because the facts surrounding COVID-19 changed rapidly. By the time many vaccine mandates were being enforced, enough Americans had received vaccinations or acquired immunity from prior infection to bend the herd-immunity curve and significantly reduce the risk of catastrophic spread. The nation was no longer in the desperate early days of the pandemic.

Protect The 1st’s brief points to expert testimony showing that vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals could both transmit the virus, that natural immunity provided substantial protection, and that alternative mitigation measures remained available. 

None of this means vaccines lacked value. Millions of Americans chose vaccination, and those decisions helped protect vulnerable populations and reduce severe illness. But the existence of broad public compliance is precisely why reasonable religious accommodations were often possible. When most of a workforce is vaccinated and additional safeguards are available, granting a limited exemption to a small number of religious objectors is far less likely to impose a substantial burden on an employer.

The First Amendment has always protected minority beliefs. Religious liberty would mean little if it applied only when a person’s beliefs aligned with popular opinion or government policy.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed that government may not treat religious exercise as a second-class right. Whether the issue involves houses of worship, religious schools, or employees seeking accommodations in the workplace, the principle remains the same: Americans should not be forced to choose between their faith and their livelihoods unless the government or employer can demonstrate a truly compelling need.
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Protect The 1st’s brief asks the Court to ensure that religious Americans receive the protections Congress intended and that the Supreme Court recognized in Groff. Emergencies may require extraordinary measures. They do not suspend legal protections for religious liberty.

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