The University of Colorado (CU) will pay $10.3 million in a settlement surrounding its discrimination against students during its COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Before granting a religious exemption to the vaccine, the university required students to provide a “detailed response” as to why their “held religious belief, practice or observance prevents [them] from getting the vaccination,” court documents from May 2024 explain. The university then rejected applications unless the student convinced the school administration that their religion teaches that “immunizations are forbidden under all circumstances.”
“Therefore, as the Administration explained to Anschutz students and employees, Christian Scientists and Jehovah’s Witnesses would qualify for an exemption under the Administration’s criteria,” the filing states. Anschutz is the name of the university’s school of medicine. Those with the Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholicism, Evangelical Christians, and
non-denominational Protestants were denied religious exemptions to the vaccine.
The Thomas Moore Society announced that 18 plaintiffs who were denied the religious exemption will receive funds for damages, tuition, and attorney’s fees.
“Going forward, the University has agreed to allow students to request religious accommodations on equal terms as employees and to give the same consideration to requests for religious exemptions as are given for medical exemptions, contrary to the University’s actions in this case,” the Thomas More Society explained.
The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the university’s large denial of religious exemptions to the vaccine was “motivated by religious animus.
Peter Breen, Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation at Thomas More Society, said in a statement that those involved in the case are “true heroes.”
“They stood up, at great personal cost, to an injustice that never should have been inflicted on them—or on any American. These are kind, compassionate medical professionals who entered their field to serve and care for others, yet they were treated with shocking disregard for their rights and scoffed at for their deeply held beliefs,” said Breen. “Because they had the courage to say ‘no’ when their religious freedoms were trampled, people of faith across the country now enjoy stronger protections. They deserve every bit of justice they’ve received in this case—and more.”
