A federal judge is to determine whether veganism qualifies as a
religious belief in an employment discrimination case.
Charlie Butts (OneNewsNow.com) A customer service representative who is a vegan, similar to being vegetarian, was fired at a Cincinnati hospital for refusing a flu vaccination derived from chicken eggs. Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel tells OneNewsNow that an Ohio judge is deciding whether veganism is a moral or ethical belief, exempting the plaintiff from vaccinations.
"A number of states allow opt-outs of vaccines, not
just for religious but also for moral or ethical beliefs," he says.
"But even veganism could be part of a person's religious belief if
they did not want to put in their body food that was killed."
The bigger question, though, is the health of the individual and the people they work with.
"And since this person is working in a medical environment, it could be argued that even though this may be part of your religious belief, there's no way to accommodate that because by not having the vaccine you're going to expose the people in the hospital or in the medical facility to potential diseases that could ultimately be deadly or certainly life threatening," Staver remarks.
Staver says it is an interesting case and there is foundation for the complaint -- and only time will tell how it works out, he adds.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2013/01/11/vegan-refuses-vaccination-on-%E2%80%98religious%E2%80%99-grounds
Charlie Butts (OneNewsNow.com) A customer service representative who is a vegan, similar to being vegetarian, was fired at a Cincinnati hospital for refusing a flu vaccination derived from chicken eggs. Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel tells OneNewsNow that an Ohio judge is deciding whether veganism is a moral or ethical belief, exempting the plaintiff from vaccinations.
"A number of states allow opt-outs of vaccines, not
just for religious but also for moral or ethical beliefs," he says.
"But even veganism could be part of a person's religious belief if
they did not want to put in their body food that was killed."The bigger question, though, is the health of the individual and the people they work with.
"And since this person is working in a medical environment, it could be argued that even though this may be part of your religious belief, there's no way to accommodate that because by not having the vaccine you're going to expose the people in the hospital or in the medical facility to potential diseases that could ultimately be deadly or certainly life threatening," Staver remarks.
Staver says it is an interesting case and there is foundation for the complaint -- and only time will tell how it works out, he adds.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2013/01/11/vegan-refuses-vaccination-on-%E2%80%98religious%E2%80%99-grounds
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