Firefighter’s Religious Objection to Vaccine Fairly Accommodated

Leander, Texas, didn’t violate a firefighter’s religious rights when it fired him after he refused to choose either of two offered accommodations to a new vaccination requirement, the Fifth Circuit ruled.

Brett Horvath was hired in 2012 and promoted to driver-pump operator in 2015. An ordained Baptist minister, he had twice received exemptions from a flu vaccination rule the city adopted in 2014. In 2016, the city mandated that all personnel receive the vaccine against tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough, the court said.

Horvath objected to the TDAP vaccine on religious grounds and the city gave him two choices: Transfer ...