Good afternoon IMLA COVID-19 Working Group: I wanted to share a few updates with the group and I look forward to our call on Tuesday, 10/19 at 3 pm eastern. 1. Chicago filed a lawsuit against the Fraternal Order of Police over a dispute regarding the City's vaccine mandate. The lawsuit is based on allegations that the Union President is unlawfully directing a strike in violation of the IPLRA. Here's a copy of the complaint: https://news.wttw.com/sites/default/files/article/file-attachments/1%202021-10-14%20Verified%20Complaint%20(FOP).pdf. And here's a story on the lawsuit with some additional background: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/city-files-complaint-against-fop-over-vaccine-mandate-dispute/ar-AAPz6ps?ocid=msedgntp 1. Denver has faced a couple of legal challenges as well to its vaccine mandate (from police officers as well as from private construction companies), which are discussed here: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/09/30/denver-vaccine-mandate-lawsuit/ 1. On Tuesday, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction to NYC healthcare workers, thereby requiring NYC to allow religious exemptions for its vaccine mandate for healthcare workers: https://eadn-wc01-1479010.nxedge.io/cdn/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Dr.-A-v.-Hochul-Order-GRANTING-PI-10-12-21.pdf. In coming to this conclusion, the court explained that the state law, which did not allow for religious exemptions but did allow for medical exemptions, violated the Supremacy Clause by conflicting with Title VII. The court reasoned that the city "has effectively foreclosed the pathway to seeking a religious accommodation that is guaranteed under Title VII." The court also concluded the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their Free Exercise claim, concluding the law was not neutral or generally applicable under Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990). The court reasoned the law was not neutral because a prior version had allowed for both medical and religious exemptions but then 8 days later, the order was imposed without the religious exemption. The court called this a "religious gerrymander" which triggered heightened scrutiny. The court also concluded the law was not generally applicable because it allowed for medical exemptions but not religious exemptions. In coming to this conclusion, the court cited to Tandon v. Newsom, 141 S. Ct. 1294, 1297 (2021) (which was decided on the Supreme Court's emergency order docket last summer), noting the "Supreme Court has recently emphasized that '[c]omparability is concerned with the risks various activities pose,' not the reasons for which they are undertaken." Because the law was not neutral or generally applicable, the city would have to satisfy strict scrutiny and the court concluded it could not. Although siding with the healthcare workers, the court did note that its conclusions had "nothing to do with how an individual employer should handle an individual employee's religious objection to a workplace vaccination requirement. But they have everything to do with the proper division of federal and state power." In other words, the problem was with a lack of possibility for a religious exemption and the court's analysis should not be read to mean that every employee seeking a religious accommodation is entitled to one. 1. The day after the NYC decision, a federal district court in Maine upheld the state's vaccine mandate which did not have a religious exemption, but did provide for a medical exemption. The decision can be found here: https://cloudup.com/ia4o8551LIB. In the Maine case, the court distinguished Tandon and the recent NYC decision discussed above, and concluded the law was facially neutral and generally applicable and survived rational basis review. The court also concluded that even if strict scrutiny applied, the law would survive the Free Exercise challenge. 1. This article has a nice summary of the lay of the land regarding lawsuits to vaccine mandates: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/vaccine-mandates-withstand-challenges-as-lawsuits-proliferate Amanda Kellar Karras Deputy General Counsel / Director of Legal Advocacy P: (202) 466-5424 x7116 Email: akarras@imla.org [facebook icon]<https://www.facebook.com/InternationalMunicipalLawyersAssociation/>[twitter icon]<https://twitter.com/imlalegal>[linkedin icon]<https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-municipal-lawyers-association-inc./> [logo]<https://imla.org/> 51 Monroe St. Suite 404 Rockville, MD, 20850 www.imla.org<http://www.imla.org/> Plan Ahead! IMLA's 86th Annual Conference<https://imla.org/annual-conference/>, Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 2021 in Minneapolis, MN! From: Caroline Storer <cstorer@imla.org> Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2021 1:35 PM To: disasterrelief@lists.imla.org Subject: [Disasterrelief] 10/19 COVID-19 Call Good Afternoon, Please join us on Tuesday, 10/19 at 3 PM ET for a COVID-19 call. The calendar invitation with Zoom details will be following. The call will discuss issues related to vaccine mandates, exemptions from mandates, and any other issues the group would like to bring up. Please note that we have a maximum of 100 participants, if you are unable to log on due to the maximum being met, we will post a recording to the DropBox. If you are unable to get on, please email Amanda any questions you had. Please be sure your name on Zoom is your full name and it would be helpful if you include your city/county/organization. If we are unable to identify you, we may have to remove you from the meeting. If you have any questions you would like addressed on the call, please email them to Amanda at akarras@imla.org<mailto:akarras@imla.org>. Please click here<https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lk8u55p2rteypgw/AAAzMlpugd0WkiAYBxMJ-C7qa?dl=0> to access the past recordings and associated material. Please note this is being updated as we get any new information, so check back often! Caroline Storer Marketing Director P: (202) 466-5424 x7104 D: (202) 742-1384 [facebook icon]<https://www.facebook.com/InternationalMunicipalLawyersAssociation/>[twitter icon]<https://twitter.com/imlalegal>[linkedin icon]<https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-municipal-lawyers-association-inc./> [logo]<https://imla.org/> 51 Monroe St. Suite 404 Rockville, MD, 20850 www.imla.org<http://www.imla.org/> Plan Ahead! IMLA's 86th Annual Conference<https://imla.org/annual-conference/>, Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 2021 in Minneapolis, MN!