Wary Panel Grills SF Transit Agency’s Vaccine Verdict Appeal (1)

An appeals court panel was skeptical of overturning a $7.8 million verdict against the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District for discriminating against six employees who objected to the Covid-19 vaccine for religious reasons.

In often tense exchanges at Wednesday’s oral arguments with the transit system’s counsel, Judge Johnnie Rawlinson, a Clinton appointee, and Judges Ryan Nelson and Bridget S. Bade, Trump appointees, repeatedly stated that BART rejected workers’ requests to remain unvaccinated and work remotely without properly considering the sincerity of their religious beliefs.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel’s decision could provide further ...