Worker Bid to Block Vaccine Policy Meets Skeptical Appeals Court

Federal appeals court judges in New Orleans voiced strong reluctance against blocking a health-care company’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate because the workers lodging religious objections have already been fired, potentially mooting the case.

An attorney for former workers at Caris Life Sciences Inc. and Caris MPI Inc. on Monday argued before the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that the workers suffered irreparable harm by being coerced to get vaccinated despite their faith-based objections. That harm justifies an immediate court order blocking the policy, he said.

But the Fifth Circuit’s prior, unpublished decision that permitted United Airlines Inc. workers ...