SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a lower-court decision favoring Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue, finding that granting COVID-19 vaccine religious exemptions to eight firefighters would have imposed an undue hardship during the pandemic.
After then-Gov. Jay Inslee mandated COVID-19 shots for all healthcare workers in August 2021, Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue imposed the same requirement on its firefighters, but allowed staff to apply for religious accommodations, My Northwest reported.
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The department denied the eight plaintiffs’ requests, among 46 filed, saying no feasible accommodation existed.
The court concluded the department had demonstrated that granting the exemptions would create undue hardship, pointing to public and firefighter safety concerns, the high volume of requests, operational risks and the expense of likely staffing shortages.
A union agreement allows affected firefighters to exhaust accrued leave, take up to a year off and keep priority rehire status.
The eight plaintiffs argued this leave policy failed to meet accommodation requirements, but the Ninth Circuit ruled the department’s approach was lawful, noting that any other arrangement would have posed an undue operational burden.
