Rotary Beats Religious Bias Claim Over Covid Vaccine Mandate (1)

A Rotary International employee’s termination for refusing the Covid-19 vaccine didn’t amount to religious discrimination because the objections she raised dealt primarily with health and medical issues, not religion, a federal judge ruled.

Kemberly Renfro sought and was denied a religious accommodation to be exempt from Rotary’s vaccine requirement in 2021, while citing beliefs about the sacredness of life that the court deemed to be more like “isolated moral teachings” than part of a comprehensive religious doctrine. The US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted summary judgment to Rotary on Tuesday.

Federal appeals courts are divided on ...